jT'jmrr  • 


I 

Hi  Mf 

nJilHluI!!! 

I 

Hi]  It 

|||  IS 

If  1  1 

THE  MASKED  WAR 


WILLIAM  J.  BURNS 


WILLIAM    J.    BURNS 


THE 

MASKED   WAR 

THE   STORY  OF  A  PERIL  THAT  THREATENED 
THE   UNITED   STATES  BY  THE   MAN  WHO 
UNCOVERED   THE   DYNAMITE   CON- 
SPIRATORS  AND   SENT  THEM 
TO  JAIL 


BY 

WILLIAM  J.  BURNS 


NEW  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


Copyright,  1913.  B7 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I  The  Betrayal  of  Labor  to  Anarchy 

II  Attempts  to  Kill  Burns   .... 

III  Following  a  Sawdust  Trail  .    .    . 

IV  Rich  Man  Driven  to  Germany  .     . 
V  Attempt  to  Kill  President  Taft  . 

VI  Burns  Busy  in  Los  Angeles  .     .    . 

VII  Tracing  Unexploded  Bomb    .    .    . 

VIII  Burns  Himself  Shadowed      .     .    . 

IX  After  Two  Hired  Anarchists    .    . 

X  Work  in  Tacoma  Anarchist  Colony 

XI  Burns  Shadows  the  Anarchists     . 

XII  Detectives  in  the  Red  Colony 

XIII  Burns  in  Anarchists'  Nest   .    .    . 

XIV  With  no  Law  and  no  Morals     .    . 
XV  A  $350  Taxicab  Ride 

XVI  Tracked  to  Wilds  of  Wisconsin    . 

XVII  Detective  Gets  Suspect's  Picture 

XVIII  The  Meeting  of  the  Dynamiters  . 

XIX  Shadowing  the  McNamaras  at  Home 

XX  Burns'  Meeting  with  Hockin    .    . 

XXI  Bribes  Offered  at  Time  of  Arrests 

XXII  McManigal  Decides  to  Confess    . 

XXIII  McManigal's  Start  as  a  Dynamiter 


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40 

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86 
92 
98 
112 
118 

125 
132 

137 
148 

156 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXIV  McManigal  Cheated  on  Pay  Roll     .     .162 

XXV  Paid  $200  and  Expenses  per  Explosion  .  171 

XXVI  Hoboes  Built  Fire  Over  Nitro      .     .     .178 

XXVII  The  Los  Angeles  Massacre  Ordered     .  182 

XXVIII  Jim  McNamara's  Story  of  the  Crime     .  188 

XXIX  Burns  Lands  the  Man  Higher  Up      .    .  199 

XXX  Peter  Currant's  Classic  Letter     .     .     .211 

XXXI  Jim  McNamara  Loses  His  Nerve   .    .    .  218 

XXXII  J.  J.  McNamara  and  His  Women    .    .    .  223 

XXXIII  The  Tragedy  of  Mary  Dye 230 

XXXIV  The  Story  of  the  Odd-Job  Man     .    .    .  239 
XXXV  Death  Threats  to  Witnesses    ....  254 

XXXVI  Efforts  to  Buy  off  Witnesses  ....  260 

XXXVII  How  Evidence  was  Destroyed  ....  270 

XXXVIII  McManigal  Nearly  Driven  Crazy    .    .  277 

XXXIX  Worse  Than  any  Third  Degree    .    .    .283 

XL    The  Organization  Exposed 290 

XLI  Expected  "Great  and  Bloody  War"     .296 

XLII  "Down  with  Detective  Burns!"  .     .    .  302 

XLIII  The  Union  was  Gang-Ridden     ....  309 

XLIV  Burns  Refuses  $1,000  a  Night  .    .    .     .315 

XLV    What  D arrow  Had  to  Say 320 

XL VI  The  Mystery  of  Two  Lost  Men    .    .    .325 


THE  MASKED  WAR 


THE   MASKED  WAR 

CHAPTER    I 

THE  BETRAYAL  OF  LABOR  TO  ANARCHY 

In  order  that  this  story  may  not  seem  utterly  in- 
credible to  the  great  majority  of  American  citizens 
who  take  life  complacently,  depending  entirely  on 
the  machine  of  government  to  look  after  their 
safety  and  welfare,  I  shall  give  them  assurance  in 
the  first  paragraph  that  they  shall  find  in  this  vol- 
ume full  proof  for  each  of  the  startling  facts  nar- 
rated, giving  for  the  first  time  the  evidence  I  gath- 
ered against  John  J.  McNamara,  James  B.  Mc- 
Namara  and  the  conspirators  of  their  union  who 
were  convicted  at  Indianapolis. 

The  evidence  did  not  come  out  at  the  trials  of 
the  McNamaras,  for  they  pleaded  guilty  to  mur- 
der. As  I  look  back  over  my  diary  and  the  reports 
of  my  operatives  it  seems  strange  to  me  that  men  at 
the  head  of  a  once  powerful  labor  organization 
could  have  worked  hand  in  glove  with  Anarchists 
to  murder  and  destroy  for  a  series  of  years, 
fool   the    honest   workmen    supporting   the   union, 

9 


io  THE    MASKED    WAR 

and  evade  the  penalty  of  the  law  for  their  crimes. 

There  are,  perhaps,  scores  of  people  who  will 
read  this  story  and  who  would  rather  read  my  death 
notice.  I  do  not  say  that  there  are  hundreds  or 
thousands  who  would  slay  me,  but  I  do  know  of 
those  who  tried  their  best  to  eliminate  me.  So  far 
as  I  am  concerned — and  I  am  now  fifty-two  years 
old — they  have  failed,  but  these  same  people  have 
taken  the  lives  of  over  a  hundred  other  human  be- 
ings. I  have  brought  a  number  of  them  to  justice, 
and  I  am  still  alive  and  watchful  for  my  own 
safety.  My  name  is  William  J.  Burns,  and  my  ad- 
dress is  New  York,  London,  Paris,  Montreal,  Chi- 
cago, San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Seattle,  New 
Orleans,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Cleveland,  and  wher- 
ever else  a  law-abiding  citizen  may  find  need  of 
men  who  know  how  to  go  quietly  about  throwing 
out  of  ambush  a  hidden  assassin  or  drawing  from 
cover  criminals  who  prey  upon  those  who  walk 
straight. 

It  will  be  well  for  honest,  clean-living  working- 
men  with  a  family,  a  craft  and  a  spark  of  patriotism 
in  them  to  read  the  reports  of  my  operatives  as 
they  gradually  unfold  the  story  of  anarchy,  for 
then  they  will  come  to  know  by  actual  evidence  the 
nature  and  quality  of  those  in  whom  they  have  put 
their  trust  as  leaders  and  to  whom  they  have  given 
week  after  week  a  percentage  of  their  wages.  It 
will  be  more  important  for  them  to  read  and  con- 
sider than   for  the   employer,   although   there   are 


THE    MASKED    WAR  ri 

thousands  of  employers  who  will  have  their  eyes 
opened  wide. 

Every  possible  lie  that  could  be  hatched  was 
aimed  at  me  while  my  net  closed  on  the  McNa- 
maras  and  those  of  the  International  Bridge  and 
Structural  Iron  Workers,  who  betrayed  the  workers 
of  that  union  to  the  Anarchists.  Not  only  were  ef- 
forts made  to  kill  me,  but  every  conceivable  effort 
was  made  to  kill  my  reputation.  I  am  called  the 
arch-enemy  of  organized  labor.  The  fact  is  that 
I  believe  in  organized  labor,  and  believe  that  it  has 
helped  the  workingman  and  will  help  him  more 
when  the  unions  shall  purge  themselves  of  such 
men  as  fight  for  their  leadership  to  graft,  to  destroy 
and  to  kill. 

The  war  with  dynamite  was  a  war  of  Anarchy 
against  the  established  form  of  government  of  this 
country.  It  was  masked  under  the  cause  of  Labor. 
This  is  not  figurative  at  all.  It  is  fact.  My  re- 
ports of  investigations  among  the  Anarchists  in 
this  country,  written  in  the  terse  and  simple  lan- 
guage of  my  investigators,  will  prove  it.  Person- 
ally, as  well  as  through  these  reports,  I  know  this, 
for  I  spent  a  part  of  my  time  trailing  the  Anarch- 
ists and  living  among  them  in  their  nest  at  Home 
Colony,  near  Tacoma,  Wash.,  the  community  which 
provided  two  of  the  men  who  assisted  J.  B.  Mc- 
Namara  in  blowing  up  the  Los  Angeles  Times 
Building  and  sending  to  a  dreadful  death  twenty-one 
hard-working,  innocent  heads  of  families. 


12  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Were  it  not  that  my  operatives  proved  of  excep- 
tional ability  and  in  their  reports  gave  names,  ad- 
dresses and  dates,  and  that  each  operative  was 
checked  up  by  another,  this  book  would  read  as  a 
product  of  remarkable  imagination.  But  the  reader 
is  not  asked  to  take  it  on  its  face,  for  the  same  proof 
that  would  have  been  offered  in  evidence  at  Los 
Angeles  will  be  given  him  just  as  it  would  have 
been  given  to  the  jury  chosen  to  try  the  McNa- 
maras. 

J.  J.  McNamara,  the  secretary-treasurer  of  the 
International  Union  of  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron 
Workers,  and  his  brother,  J.  B.  McNamara,  were 
pictured  as  martyrs,  and  great  mass-meetings  and 
parades  were  held  by  Socialists  and  by  workingmen 
who  were  not  Socialists  to  enlist  the  country's  sym- 
pathy for  them.  An  immense  fund  was  drawn  from 
the  pockets  of  union  men  to  pay  Darrow  and  his 
advisers  in  the  defense.  A  threat  was  made  to  call 
a  general  strike  and  tie  up  every  industry  in  the 
United  States  so  that  the  courts  might  be  intimi- 
dated. A  social  revolution  seemed  at  hand,  but  the 
martyrs  who  bring  revolutions  to  a  head  are  men 
with  the  good  of  humanity  at  heart,  and  the  Mc- 
Namaras  were  not  of  that  kind. 

When  J.  B.  McNamara  was  starting  for  the 
Pacific  Coast  to  blow  up  the  Los  Angeles  Times 
Building  his  brother,  J.  J.  McNamara,  insisted  on 
his  buying  a  round-trip  ticket  so  that  he  would  save 
money.     On  another  occasion,  when  J.  B.  McNa- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  13 

mara  reported  at  the  International  Headquarters  in 
Indianapolis  after  exploding  nitroglycerin  in  a  non- 
union plant  without  doing  any  vast  damage,  J.  J. 
cried  with  a  profane  utterance  of  the  Savior's  name 
as  prefix:  "Don't  you  know  that  stuff  costs  $1.30  a 
quart?"  It  would  be  hard  for  any  man  capable  of 
the  least  degree  of  thought  to  picture  J.  J.  McNa- 
mara  as  a  martyr. 

With  J.  B.  McNamara  there  was  no  such  thing 
as  conscience.  He  was  deep  in  the  dregs  of  im- 
moral living,  as  was  his  brother,  who  directed  him 
in  his  tours  of  murder  and  destruction.  After  de- 
stroying the  Los  Angeles  Times  Building  and  its 
twenty-one  occupants,  he  enjoyed  a  long  carouse  on 
a  hunting  trip  in  Wisconsin,  he  nfcver  expressed  any 
remorse  for  his  act  and  continued  his  course  as  if 
nothing  had  happened.  He  started  as  a  boy  in  a 
childish  way  that  landed  him  in  a  house  of  correc- 
tion, and  as  a  young  man  he  debauched  himself  so 
that  when  he  was  not  murdering  and  destroying  he 
was  drinking  and  pursuing  women.  He  generally 
carried  with  him  pictures  so  unfit  that  the  mere 
mention  of  them  is  a  matter  to  cause  hesitation. 
There  could  be  no  stuff  of  martyrs  in  that  man. 

But  this  is  not  the  place  in  the  story  to  treat  of 
these  two  labor  "leaders"  as  specimens  of  criminals 
and  degenerates.  The  facts  are  merely  put  forth  as 
introductory  so  that  the  reader  will  be  ready  for 
the  evidence  as  it  comes  along.  Their  actions  will 
tell  the  stories  of  their  lives.     The  reports  of  my 


14  THE    MASKED    WAR 

investigators  will  give  the  really  honest  and  hard- 
working man  an  idea  of  what  they  did  with  the 
money  workingmen  turned  in  to  the  union,  the  money 
their  wives  and  children  had  to  manage  to  get  along 
without. 


CHAPTER    II 

ATTEMPTS   TO   KILL   BURNS 

Prior  to  September  4,  19 10,  I  was  considered 
anything  but  an  enemy  of  labor.  That  was  the  date 
upon  which  I  began  an  investigation  of  the  men 
back  of  the  reign  of  terror  for  the  employers  of 
labor  in  bridge  and  structural  iron  work  throughout 
the  country.  A  national  strike  of  the  structural 
iron  workers  had  been  called,  back  in  1905,  and  for 
five  years  buildings,  bridges  and  structural  supplies 
had  been  wrecked  with  bombs,  buildings  had  been 
fired  and  men  slugged,  maimed  and  killed. 

The  employers  demanded  the  right  to  employ 
both  union  and  non-union  labor.  The  union  insisted 
that  every  shop  and  every  job  should  be  closed 
against  workers  who  did  not  belong  to  the  union. 

It  was  on  this  date,  the  date  of  the  employment 
of  my  agency,  nearly  a  month  before  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Los  Angeles  Times  Building,  that  my 
forces  were  turned  against  the  criminal  "repre- 
sentatives" of  labor.  Prior  to  that  I  was  in  high 
favor  with  the  unions,  for  I  had  been  employed  to 
uncover  and  bring  to  justice  the  doers  of  evil  among 
the  rich.  The  Oregon  land  fraud  cases  had 
been  brought  to  a  successful  conclusion,  and  I 
had    been    called    to    San    Francisco    to    clear    up 

is 


16  THE    MASKED    WAR 

the  graft  situation  there  for  those  people  who 
wanted  corruption  driven  out  of  their  munici- 
pal government.  My  quarry  was  the  rich  then, 
and  I  went  after  the  rich  crook  just  as  I  would  go 
after  any  menace  to  society.  Whether  a  crook  has 
millions  at  his  command  or  just  his  wits  and  a  knife 
makes  no  difference  to  me.  My  business  is  to  de- 
tect criminals  and  bring  them  to  the  courts  for  trial. 
In  San  Francisco,  when  I  was  after  the  men  of 
wealth  and  long-established  political  power,  a  price 
was  set  on  my  head  just  as  it  was  set  afterward 
when  I  started  to  drag  from  their  hiding  places  the 
men  with  torch  and  dynamite  who  fired  and  killed 
in  labor's  name. 

These  two  situations,  bringing  about  personal 
peril,  may  be  interesting  just  at  this  juncture;  the 
one  coming  about  through  the  prosecution  of  the 
rich  malefactor  and  the  other  through  the  search 
for  the  malefactors  who  posed  as  representatives  of 
labor. 

The  wealthy  criminals  felt  my  net  drawing  closer 
and  closer,  and  they  seemed  to  realize  that  my  elimi- 
nation would  help  destroy  that  net.  A  man  from 
the  sub-strata  of  human  depravity  contracted  with 
certain  parties  to  murder  five  of  us  and  to  murder 
our  chief  witness,  Gallagher.  His  price  was  three 
thousand  dollars  for  the  five  lives.  The  deaths  of 
Gallagher  and  myself  would  have  meant  the  com- 
plete ruin  of  the  chances  of  the  prosecution  for  suc- 
cess.     This   assassin   got  busy  but   fortunately  we 


THE    MASKED    WAR  17 

learned  of  his  contract  in  time,  and  he  was  balked. 
Not,  however,  until  he  had  blown  up  Gallagher's 
house.  It  is  clearly  in  the  recollection  of  the  major- 
ity of  newspaper  readers  what  the  next  tack  was. 
Francis  J.  Heney,  the  special  prosecutor  of  the  graft 
cases,  was  shot  down  in  open  court.  Fortunately  his 
wound  was  not  fatal,  and  the  prosecution  went  right 
on  to  a  successful  termination. 

Some  of  my  reports  will  show  how,  on  the  other 
hand,  those  alleged  representatives  and  apostles  of 
labor  involved  in  the  dynamiting  outrages  tried  to 
plant  dress  suit  cases  filled  with  nitroglycerin  in 
rooms  adjoining  mine  at  hotels,  and  how  they 
planned  to  blow  up  my  offices  with  every  one  in 
them.  The  most  daring  of  all  efforts  was  checked 
in  a  way  that  was  simple  and  that  proved  most  ef- 
fective. 

When  it  was  certain  that  the  McNamaras  were 
doomed,  when  my  array  of  witnesses  to  back  up  the 
McManigal  confession  was  scanned  and  found  to  be 
frightful  for  the  chances  of  the  defense  a  certain 
once  eminent  gentleman  of  the  Pacific  Coast — who 
later  came  upon  disgrace — let  it  be  known  that  only 
the  withdrawal  of  Burns  could  save  the  accused 
men. 

Now  this  statement,  coming  from  a  man  of  edu- 
cation and  some  fame,  a  man  deeply  interested  in 
the  acquittal  of  the  McNamaras,  meant  more  peril 
to  me  than  all  the  loud-mouthed  threats  that  might 
be  made  in  every  corner  saloon  from  Los  Angeles 


18  THE    MASKED    WAR 

to  New  York.  His  suggestion  would  carry  further 
than  the  commands  of  the  McNamaras  themselves. 
I  had  one  of  my  operatives  in  touch  with  this  gen- 
tleman— a  fact  which  may  cause  him  much  surprise 
and  disgust.  That  operative,  a  man  of  high  intelli- 
gence, realized  in  a  moment  what  that  remark, 
meant.  It  was  the  signal  to  go  out  and  "get" 
Burns.  There  was  only  one  way,  as  I  saw  it,  to 
have  that  order  recalled.  I  sent  the  operative  back 
to  this  gentleman  to  inform  him  that  if  anything 
happened  to  me  the  same  thing  would  happen  to 
him. 

"But,  my  God!"  cried  this  gentleman  from  his 
swivel  chair,  "some  crank  might  kill  him  1  I  would 
not  be  responsible." 

My  operative  reported  to  me. 

With  another  message  my  representative  re- 
turned to  the  office  of  the  gentleman  who  thought 
that  my  withdrawal  was  the  only  hope  of  the  Mc- 
Namaras. 

He  said: 

"Mr.  Blank,  Mr.  Burns  asks  me  to  tell  you  that 
if  he  is  killed  by  a  crank  another  crank  will  kill 
you." 

The  suggestion  about  my  withdrawal  was  hur- 
riedly recalled,  and  we  proceeded  with  the  selection 
of  a  jury,  that  is,  counsel  for  the  prosecution  and 
the  defense  went  about  that  work  while  my  agency 
proceeded  about  uncovering  the  attempts  to  bribe 
jurors  and  talesmen  as  they  were  called. 


THE    MASKED    WAR  19 

Therefore,  on  September  4,  19 10,  I  turned  from 
hunting  down  wealthy  criminals  and  began,  at  the 
request  of  the  McClintic-Marshall  Company,  to 
hunt  down  the  dynamiters  who  had  carried  on  a 
masked  war  for  five  years  through  the  United 
States.  Another  detective  agency  had  been  em- 
ployed before  that  and  had  drawn  a  great  deal  of 
money  from  those  companies  which  had  suffered 
from  these  attacks  in  the  dark.  Their  usual  re- 
ports were  to  the  effect  that  explosions  had  oc- 
curred at  such  and  such  places  on  such  and  such 
dates,  and  that  they  were  being  investigated.  No 
one  was  arrested. 

On  my  return  to  my  Chicago  office  in  the  summer 
of  19 10,  after  an  absence  of  several  days  in  New 
York  on  important  matters  connected  with  the 
American  Bankers'  Association,  I  was  informed 
that  our  Chicago  office  had  been  called  on  to  inves- 
tigate a  very  important  dynamiting  case  for  the  Mc- 
Clintic-Marshall Construction  Company,  of  Pitts- 
burgh. A  railroad  bridge  at  Indiana  Harbor,  Ind., 
constructed  by  this  firm  had  been  dynamited,  and 
the  explosion  took  place  just  before  a  crowded  pas- 
senger train  had  approached  it. 

As  I  had  organized  the  William  J.  Burns  Na- 
tional Detective  Agency  with  a  view  of  succeeding 
where  others  failed,  and  having  just  come  into  the 
private  detective  business,  I  felt  that  we  should  do 
more  than  make  a  merely  perfunctory  investigation 
on  important  matters  of  this  character.    Therefore, 


20  THE   MASKED   WAR 

I  sent  for  the  operative  who  made  the  investigation, 
and  questioned  him  as  to  what  he  had  accomplished. 
In  reply  he  stated,  in  a  great  deal  of  language,  that 
he  had  proceeded  to  the  point  of  the  explosion  at 
Indiana  Harbor,  had  determined  that  it  occurred 
between  certain  hours  and  at  a  certain  point,  and 
that  dynamite  was  used.  He  then  made  a  thorough 
investigation  to  determine  whether  or  not  strangers 
were  seen  in  that  vicinity,  and  also  whether  it  was 
possible  to  obtain  dynamite  there  or  thereabouts. 
After  covering  considerable  ground  along  these 
lines  I  finally  summed  up  the  result  of  his  investiga- 
tion, and  suggested  to  him  that  he  was  able  to  re- 
turn and  inform  the  client  positively  that  the  bridge 
had  been  dynamited.  He  admitted  that  he  sup- 
posed that  about  covered  the  result  of  his  investi- 
gation. 

He  further  stated  that  the  McClintic-Marshall 
Company  were  running  an  open  shop.  They  were 
paying  higher  wages  and  the  working  conditions 
were  better  than  those  required  by  the  Union,  but 
the  fight  was  for  the  closed  shop.  I  then  asked  if 
he  was  satisfied  that  the  motive  was  to  enforce  the 
closed  shop,  and  that  if  that  were  true  might  it  not 
be  possible  that  the  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron 
Workers'  Union  was  responsible  for  the  explosion. 
If  so,  then  the  proper  place  for  the  further  investi- 
gation would  be  this  Union. 

Further  inquiry  developed  the  fact  that  this  was 
one    of    a    great    number    of    similar    explosions, 


THE    MASKED    WAR  21 

amounting  to  over  one  hundred,   and  covering  a 
period  of  several  years. 

We  then  communicated  with  our  clients  and  asked 
permission  to  reopen  the  Indiana  Harbor  investiga- 
tion, but  not  being  impressed  with  the  results  thus 
far  obtained,  and  unquestionably  because  of  the  fact 
that  they  had  paid  out  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars 
for  useless  work  and  with  no  results,  they  naturally 
concluded  that  it  would  be  of  no  use  to  delve  further 
into  this.  In  the  meantime,  however,  I  made  a  per- 
sonal call  on  the  McClintic-Marshall  Company  and 
impressed  them  with  the  fact  that  I  would  be  able 
to  make  a  successful  investigation  of  that  character 
of  work,  and  was  sure  I  would  be  able  to  apprehend 
those  responsible.  As  a  result,  when  a  similar  ex- 
plosion occurred  at  Peoria,  111.,  we  were  again  called 
in,  and  this  time  I  took  personal  charge  of  the  in- 
vestigation and  directed  the  movements  of  my  oper- 
atives. 

This  was  a  series  of  explosions,  and  did  great 
damage.  One  charge  of  ten  gallons  of  nitro- 
glycerin was  placed  under  an  80-ton  girder  manu- 
factured by  McClintic-Marshall,  which  was  intended 
to  span  the  Illinois  River  for  the  Pekin  &  Peoria 
R.  R.  The  other  took  place  in  the  iron  works  of 
Lucas  &  Sons,  and  both  charges  exploded  at  the 
same  hour  and  the  same  second,  of  the  same  night; 
the  escape  of  five  lives  on  this  occasion  was  nothing 
short  of  miraculous. 

It  so  happened  that  this  night  it  rained,  and  for 


22  THE    MASKED    WAR 

that  reason  the  railroad  watchmen  would  make  a 
round  and  then  enter  a  box-car  for  shelter.  They 
had  just  entered  the  car  some  short  distance  from 
the  explosion  when  it  occurred.  Had  they  been  at 
any  other  spot  where  it  was  required  for  them  to 
traverse  their  work,  they  would  have  been  killed. 
At  the  iron  works  the  watchmen  had  passed  the 
spot  where  the  explosion  took  place  within  only  a 
moment  of  safety  to  them. 

At  the  iron  works  it  was  learned  that  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara,  the  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Inter- 
national Bridge  and  Structural  Iron  Workers,  and 
H.  S.  Hockin,  organizer  and  field  worker  of  the 
same  organization,  visited  the  office  only  a  few  days 
before  and  strongly  urged  that  the  employers  run 
a  closed  shop.  McClintic-Marshall  had  been  noti- 
fied in  advance  that  the  explosion  was  to  take  place, 
and  they  in  turn  notified  the  officers  of  this  concern 
that  there  was  danger  to  their  property.  These  of- 
ficers, notified  by  the  McClintic-Marshall  Com- 
pany, at  Peoria  and  East  Peoria,  realized  that  vio- 
lence might  be  used  by  these  Structural  Iron  Work- 
ers. Apparently  they  did  not  take  this  advice  seri- 
ously enough,  however,  for,  on  the  night  of  Sep- 
tember 4,  1910,  at  the  hour  of  10.30,  the  iron 
works  in  East  Peoria  and  the  McClintic-Marshall 
girders  in  the  railroad  yards  were  blown  up  by 
nitroglycerin. 


CHAPTER    III 

FOLLOWING  A   SAWDUST  TRAIL 

I  have  always  insisted  that  every  criminal  leaves 
a  track — that  many  times  Providence  interferes  to 
uncover  the  footprints  left  by  the  criminal.  And 
so  on  this  occasion,  one  charge  under  a  second  gir- 
der failed  to  explode,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  dry 
battery  used  in  the  clock  bomb  lost  its  voltage.  In 
this  way  we  were  able  to  determine  the  method  used 
by  the  dynamiters  for  bringing  about  those  simul- 
taneous explosions,  as  through  this  clock-working 
device  they  were  enabled  to  set  the  explosion  for 
ii  hours  and  59  minutes  and  59  seconds,  which 
would  give  them  plenty  of  leeway  to  escape.  They 
could  thereby  establish  a  perfect  alibi.  They  fig- 
ured, of  course,  on  the  total  destruction  of  the 
bomb,  which  would  obliterate  every  vestige  of  evi- 
dence as  to  the  character  of  the  explosive  used. 

I  detailed  the  very  best  operatives  in  our  service 
to  make  this  investigation  and  personally  directed 
each  step  of  their  operations.  They  returned  sev- 
eral times  with  final  reports,  and  each  time  would 
be  sent  back  to  the  work  to  dig  further. 

Knowing  that  nitroglycerin  could  not  be  trans- 

23 


24  THE    MASKED    WAR 

ported  on  railroad  trains,  we  felt  that  it  must  have 
been  manufactured  within  easy  reach  of  where  the 
explosion  took  place.  Besides,  the  dynamiters  used 
the  original  can  in  which  they  purchased  the  nitro- 
glycerin. In  addition  to  the  can  filled  with  nitro- 
glycerin that  failed  to  explode,  there  was  also  an 
empty  can  found  in  the  vicinity,  and  in  this  same  spot 
were  found  some  grains  of  sawdust,  all  of  which 
was  carefully  gathered  up.  And  this  indicates  the 
care  with  which  the  trained  detective  does  his  work, 
for,  by  a  similar  circumstance  many  years  before,  I 
was  able  to  bring  about  the  conviction  of  the  no- 
torious Bill  Brockaway,  by  finding  at  the  counter- 
feiting plant  an  oilcloth  apron  used  by  the  counter- 
feiter while  printing  his  notes  at  542  Ann  Street, 
West  Hoboken,  N.  J.  And  at  the  room  of  Brock- 
away on  Avenue  A,  in  New  York  City,  I  found  a 
small  strip  of  the  same  oilcloth,  with  the  same  pe- 
culiar design;  and  by  fitting  them  together  there 
was  the  glazed  portion  missing  from  the  apron  that 
was  supplied  by  the  small  strip,  and  vice  versa.  I 
was  informed  by  two  of  the  jurymen  in  the  Brock- 
away case  that  this  bit  of  important  evidence  elimi- 
nated the  last  vestige  of  doubt  from  their  minds, 
and  caused  the  conviction  of  Brockaway,  who  paid 
the  penalty  of  ten  years  in  prison. 

So,  by  gathering  the  bits  of  sawdust  found  on  the 
same  spot,  with  a  can  identical  to  that  in  which  the 
nitroglycerin  was  found,  it  was  subsequently  proved 
that  it  had  been  left  there  by  the  person  who  pur- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  25 

chased  the  nitroglycerin  from  Fred  Morehart,  of 
Portland,  Indiana,  who  sold  it  to  a  man  who  gave 
his  name  as  J.  W.  McGraw.  This  man's  descrip- 
tion tallied  exactly  with  that  of  a  man  seen  in  the 
vicinity,  and  whom  we  traced  to  a  hotel  at  Muncie. 
We  found  his  signature  on  the  register,  and  made  a 
tracing  of  it. 

We  then  determined  that  all  of  those  dynamit- 
ings  occurred  in  the  same  way,  and  from  that  we 
could  deduce  the  fact  that  they  were  guided  by  the 
same  mind.  This  deduction  having  been  reached, 
the  next  logical  step  was  Indianapolis,  which  was 
the  headquarters  of  the  International  Bridge  and 
Structural  Iron  Workers'  Union.  I  was  convinced 
that  McGraw  was  working  as  a  dynamiter  for  the 
union. 

McGraw's  excuse  in  purchasing  the  nitroglycerin 
was  that  he  represented  the  stone  quarry  of  George 
Clark  &  Company,  and  reminded  Mr.  Morehart 
of  the  fact  that  they  had  made  a  former  purchase 
from  his  concern  through  a  Mr.  Kiser.  A  search 
was  promptly  made  for  Kiser,  and  he  was  located 
in  Oklahoma. 

One  of  the  essential  features  which  go  to  make 
up  the  efficient  detective  is  the  vigilance  over  small 
details.  Therefore,  the  operative  had  in  mind  the 
fact  that  he  would  follow,  step  by  step,  J.  W.  Mc- 
Graw, from  the  time  he  first  met  Mr.  Morehart, 
and  interrogate  Mr.  Morehart  as  to  every  word 
spoken. 


26  THE    MASKED    WAR 

I  assigned  an  operative  to  this  task.  His  report 
shows  how  he  uncovered  helpful  evidence  at  this 
early  stage  of  the  investigation. 

Operative  H.  A.  G.  reports: 

"McGraw,  at  the  time  he  first  met  Mr.  More- 
hart,  stated  that  he  had  formerly  purchased  nitro- 
glycerin from  Kiser  at  Albany,  and  had  gone  there 
on  this  occasion,  August  20,  to  purchase  some  more, 
but  was  told  at  Albany  that  Kiser  had  gone  away, 
and  that  Mr.  Morehart  had  the  agency  at  Port- 
land. McGraw  then  came  to  Portland  and  in- 
quired of  Mr.  O.  O.  Gaskill,  No.  216  Meridian 
Street,  for  Morehart.  Gaskill  says  that  he  never 
saw  McGraw  before  and  merely  directed  him  to 
Morehart,  but  did  not  tell  Morehart  that  he  knew 
McGraw.  McGraw  told  Morehart  that  he  bought 
some  of  the  stuff  of  Kiser  about  June  1,  1906.  This 
was  his  first  purchase  from  Kiser,  but  he  made  other 
deals  later.  This  Morehart  has  been  unable  to 
verify  as  Kiser's  books  and  records  show  no  such 
sales. 

"McGraw  told  Mr.  Morehart,  on  August  20,  the 
date  of  his  first  visit,  that  he  represented  G.  W. 
Clark  &  Co.,  of  Peoria,  111.,  that  they  had  some 
very  hard  rock  and  they  could  use  nitroglycerin 
there  with  better  results  and  less  expense  than  dyna- 
mite. He  also  said  that  Mr.  G.  W.  Clark  lived  in 
Indianapolis.  (There  is  no  G.  W.  Clark  in  the 
directories  there.)      When  the  stuff  was  delivered 


THE    MASKED    WAR  27 

by  Morehart  to  McGraw  at  Albany  on  August  30, 
McGraw  had  a  camera  and  took  a  picture  of  More- 
hart  on  his  wagon.  This  is  a  specially  made  rig 
and  bears  the  words  in  large  letters,  'Nitro  Glyc- 
erine— Dangerous,'  on  the  sides  and  rear.  On  it 
also  is  the  apparatus  for  well  shooting,  which  busi- 
ness Morehart  is  engaged  in.  McGraw  gave  as  a 
reason  for  coming  to  Indiana  for  the  stuff  that  the 
roads  were  much  better  between  there  and  Peoria 
and  the  difference  in  mileage  was  more  than  com- 
pensated for  on  that  account.  Although  McGraw 
promised  Morehart  a  copy  of  the  picture  he  took 
he  has  never  sent  it.  There  were  no  marks  on  the 
boxes  which  McGraw  had  on  his  wagon.  The  place 
indicated  by  me  as  the  spot  where  the  transfer  was 
made  and  from  whence  I  took  the  sawdust  is  pro- 
nounced by  Morehart  as  the  exact  spot  where  he 
met  McGraw.  He  remembers  very  distinctly  that 
the  sawdust  was  unusually  coarse  stuff.  Paper  was 
in  the  bottom  of  one  of  the  boxes  and  was  cast  aside 
by  McGraw  and  left  lying  there  when  he  departed. 
McGraw  was  talkative,  and  was  apparently  not  a 
drinking  man.  He  proved  himself  a  genuine  K.  of 
P.,  but  did  not  state  the  name  or  location  of  his 
lodge.  He  claimed  to  be  well  acquainted  in  Fos- 
toria,  Ohio,  and  mentioned  a  number  of  places  there 
with  which  Morehart  is  quite  familiar.  He  men- 
tioned no  names  of  acquaintances,  however.  Fos- 
toria  is  near  Toledo,  about  10,000  population,  and 
Morehart  is  quite  sure  that  if  McGraw  lived  there 


28  THE    MASKED   WAR 

at  any  time  he  could  be  easily  traced  in  the  town. 
McGraw  told  Morehart  that  he  had  used  nitro- 
glycerin, and  that  he  was  familiar  with  its  use.  In 
paying  Morehart  he  exhibited  a  large  roll  of 
twenty-dollar  bills,  and  the  money  he  took  from  the 
roll  did  not  appreciably  diminish  its  size.  McGraw 
seemed  familiar  with  the  proper  method  of  hand- 
ling the  stuff  as  well  as  with  the  law  regulating  its 
transportation,  storage,  etc.  He  said  he  would  re- 
quire another  consignment  in  a  short  time,  and 
would  return  and  obtain  it  from  Morehart.  I  ar- 
ranged with  Morehart  that  in  case  McGraw  or 
any  other  stranger  makes  overtures  to  him  for  the 
purchase  of  any  of  the  stuff  in  the  future,  he  will 
put  the  man  off  24  hours  on  a  plea  of  being  out  of 
stock,  and  he  will  then  communicate  by  telephone 
with  our  Chicago  office  at  once.  This  he  can  easily 
do  without  arousing  suspicion,  as  it  often  occurs 
that  the  supply  is  exhausted  before  a  new  lot  is  re- 
ceived." 

That  little  pinch  of  sawdust  taken  as  a  sample 
near  the  railroad  yards  in  Peoria  came  in  very 
handy.  It  established  the  fact  that  the  man  who 
bought  the  nitroglycerin  from  Morehart  had  car- 
ried some  of  the  explosive  and  had  set  it  off  with  the 
time  clock  attachment  in  Peoria.  The  sample 
showed  that  it  was  the  same  sawdust  as  that  found 
sprinkled  in  the  road  two  hundred  miles  away  at 
the  point  where  the  explosive  was  transferred  from 
Morehart's  vehicle  to  McGraw's. 


THE    MASKED    WAR  29 

We  had  a  good  description  of  McGraw.  Next 
was  to  get  his  signature.  Operative  H.  A.  G. 
hunted  through  the  various  hotels  in  the  towns 
around  Portland,  and  finally  came  to  a  register  in 
Muncie,  Ind.,  with  the  name  J.  W.  McGraw  upon 
it.  H.  A.  G.  made  a  tracing  of  this  signature.  We 
then  found  the  liveryman  who  had  rented  McGraw 
a  light  wagon  and  the  man  who  had  sold  him  a 
long-handled  shovel  observed  by  Mr.  Morehart  in 
the  wagon.  From  these  we  got  good  descriptions. 
My  operatives  found  the  sawdust  pile  in  the  yard 
of  a  farmhouse  on  the  road  leading  to  Morehart's. 
Here  McGraw  had  stopped  to  take  enough  for  his 
needs  in  packing  the  explosive.  We  could  now 
prove  that  the  sawdust  found  in  Peoria  was  the 
same  sawdust  as  that  stolen  from  the  farmer's  yard 
and  the  same  dropped  from  the  wagon  when  the 
nitroglycerin  was  transferred  from  Morehart's  ve- 
hicle to  McGraw's.  We  had  made  an  advance 
upon  the  dynamiter  that  was  worth  while.  We  had 
his  description,  his  signature  and  a  clearly  marked 
trail  connecting  him  from  the  place  where  the  ex- 
plosive was  bought  to  where  it  was  touched  off.  We 
also  had  one  of  his  little  clock  machines.  Further- 
more we  would  trap  him  if  he  called  on  Morehart 
for  more  nitro. 


CHAPTER    IV 

RICH   MAN  DRIVEN  TO   GERMANY 

The  opening  of  the  trail  to  McGraw  was  accom- 
plished after  about  three  weeks  of  hard  work  and 
the  running  out  of  many  clues  that  proved  value- 
less. It  was  the  first  opening  after  five  years  of 
continued  warfare  against  the  employers  of  struc- 
tural iron  workers  by  the  men  who  levied  on  the 
pay  envelopes  of  those  who  would  work  and  could 
get  the  chance  to  work;  by  the  men  who  at  Inter- 
national Headquarters  in  Indianapolis  used  this 
money  for  their  own  ends,  for  drink  and  the  pay- 
ment of  money  to  blackmailing  women;  by  the  men 
who  never  did  a  day's  honest  work  themselves  and 
whose  only  occupation  outside  of  licentious  indul- 
gence was  the  occupation  of  destruction  and  murder. 

It  was  indeed  a  reign  of  terror.  The  police  are 
always  in  politics,  and  politics  in  the  police  system. 
The  labor  leaders  are  in  politics,  and  this  triangular 
state  of  affairs  made  it  no  cause  for  wonder  that  no 
one  was  arrested  and  no  crime  was  avenged  by  the 
law. 

If  the  United  States  was  a  free  country  during 
those  five  years  the  employers  did  not  have  good 

30 


THE   MASKED   WAR  31 

reason  to  believe  it.  A  record  of  over  one  hundred 
cases  of  assault  on  non-union  workers  during  that 
time  is  available.  It  ranges  from  throwing  acid  in 
the  face  of  a  worker  to  the  hurling  of  a  special  po- 
liceman from  the  structure  of  the  Hotel  Plaza  in 
New  York  City  when  that  building  was  in  course  of 
erection.  The  officer  was  slugged  first  and  then 
thrown  to  his  death  to  hide  the  marks  of  the  as- 
sault. 

David  M.  Parry,  formerly  president  of  the  Na- 
tional Association  of  Manufacturers,  a  wealthy  resi- 
dent of  Indianapolis,  incurred  the  hatred  of  the 
leaders  of  the  hidden  forces.  He  was  compelled  to 
walk  about  the  streets  of  his  native  city  with  a 
heavy  bodyguard  and  with  an  automatic  revolver 
in  each  coat  pocket.  Mr.  Parry  is  a  dead  shot, 
and  is  afraid  of  no  man.  His  brother  is  the  cham- 
pion pistol  shot  of  the  National  Guards  of  Indiana. 
It  sounds  like  melodrama,  but  the  two  Parrys  were 
ready  to  make  somebody  pay  for  their  taking  off. 
The  telephone  was  kept  busy  in  Mr.  D.  M.  Parry's 
office  by  people  who  made  threats  to  kill  him  and 
burn  his  house.  He  surrounded  his  splendid  resi- 
dence with  guards  and  kept  on  his  course. 

Finally  the  terrorists  threatened  to  kidnap  his 
children.  The  father's  heart  in  Mr.  Parry  beat 
with  fear  at  this  threat.  He  determined  to  move 
his  family  abroad,  and  he  took  his  wife  and  children 
to  Strasburg  in  Germany.  There  he  got  a  home  for 
them  until  the  reign  of  terror  would  come  to  an  end. 


32  THE    MASKED    WAR 

He,  a  millionaire  American  citizen,  then  went  to 
the  chief  of  police  of  this  German  city  and  recite'd 
the  facts  and  asked  that  should  his  enemies  pursue 
his  family  to  Strasburg  police  protection  be  given 
them. 

All  the  while  the  planted  mines  and  bombs  were 
being  set  off.  Here  is  a  partial  list  of  explosions 
from  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  the  strike  of  the 
structural  workers  up  to  the  terrible  climax  of  the 
first  of  October,  19 10,  when  the  Los  Angeles  Times 
Building  was  utterly  destroyed  with  twenty-one  in- 
nocent people: 


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39 


CHAPTER    V 

ATTEMPT   TO   KILL   PRESIDENT  TAFT 

The  explosions  given  in  the  preceding  chapter  all 
occurred  prior  to  October  i,  1910,  the  date  of  the 
Los  Angeles  Times  destruction.  They  did  not  stop 
then  by  any  means.  In  fact,  the  terrorists  were  not 
satisfied  even  with  this  terrible  climax  of  the  five 
years'  war.  They  sent  back  to  Los  Angeles  a  man 
with  nitroglycerin  and  dynamite  to  destroy  the  aux- 
iliary plant  of  the  newspaper  and  the  Baker  and 
Llewellyn  Iron  Works.  And  then  to  give  the  idea 
that  these  crimes  were  locally  conducted  affairs  they 
set  off  two  bombs  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  on  October 
10.  There  were  twenty-five  explosions  altogether 
in  the  year  19 10,  and  they  went  on  during  the  first 
part  of  the  year  191 1,  amounting  to  ten  in  number, 
until  the  arrest  of  the  McNamaras,  which  was  on 
April  12. 

There  were  no  explosions  or  attempts  to  dyna- 
mite after  the  arrests.  But  in  October  of  191 1  an 
attempt  was  made  to  blow  up  a  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad  bridge  near  Santa  Barbara,  Cal.,  just  be- 
fore a  train  bearing  the  President  of  the  United 
States  was  due  to  cross  it.     Thirty-nine  sticks  of 

40 


THE    MASKED   WAR  41 

dynamite  with  fuse  attached  were  found  in  the 
bridge  structure  by  a  watchman. 

A  careful  estimate  shows  that  to  perpetrate  all 
of  these  crimes  between  three  and  four  hundred 
quarts  of  nitroglycerin  and  over  2,000  pounds  of 
dynamite  were  lugged  about  the  country  in  passen- 
ger trains  to  the  imminent  peril  of  thousands  of 
innocent  men,  women  and  children.  A  heavy  jolt 
in  coupling,  a  slight  accident  and  a  train  would  have 
been  blown  to  pieces  on  the  rails. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  that  human 
beings  in  a  stage  of  civilization  could  have  so  lightly 
borne  responsibility  for  the  preservation  of  their 
own  kind.  Things  were  done  in  the  bloody  war 
culminating  in  the  Los  Angeles  disaster  that  would 
not  be  tolerated  on  fields  of  battle  in  the  Far  East. 
One  railroad  bridge  that  had  been  built  by  non- 
union men  was  destroyed  by  the  wreckers  employed 
by  the  McNamaras  just  before  a  heavily  loaded 
passenger  train  reached  it.  Another  minute  and 
every  man,  woman  and  child  on  that  train  would 
have  been  sent  to  death. 

The  cost  of  this  warfare  for  both  sides  was  tre- 
mendous. The  actual  cost  in  material  and  struc- 
tures damaged  or  destroyed  for  one  hundred  explo- 
sions was  figured  at  more  than  a  million.  The  loss 
to  the  companies  aside  from  this  ran  higher, 
for  every  job  and  every  plant  had  to  be  heavily 
picketed  with  guards.  On  one  job  alone  in  Cleve- 
land a  company  paid  $17,000  for  guards.     Then, 


42  THE    MASKED    WAR 

too,  is  the  loss  from  contracts  unfulfilled  or  delayed, 
the  cutting  down  of  the  degree  of  efficiency  as  the 
result  of  fear  following  these  attacks  and  employees 
giving  up  their  work  through  intimidation. 

The  McNamaras  were  given  and  spent  one  thou- 
sand dollars  a  month  for  two  and  a  half  years  to 
finance  the  murder  and  destruction.  That  money 
came  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  comparatively  few 
men  of  the  union  who  held  jobs  and  from  contribu- 
tions made  by  other  unions.  The  working  union 
man  was  gouged  for  at  least  $190,000  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  two  McNamaras,  who  didn't  work,  but 
who  spent  the  money  of  those  who  did  work  on 
drink,  on  women  and  for  nitroglycerin  and  the  hire 
of  Anarchists.  The  trial  in  Indianapolis,  where 
forty-five  union  "leaders"  answered  the  charge  of 
conspiracy,  cost  the  working  union  man  $5,000  a 
week.     The  trial  lasted  three  months  or  more. 

What  it  cost  in  lost  wages  to  the  men  who  were 
ordered  on  strike  and  kept  on  strike  during  this 
period  of  warfare  it  is  almost  impossible  to  conjec- 
ture. Days,  weeks,  months  and  years  of  living  from 
hand  to  mouth,  of  character  being  sapped  by  hang- 
ing about  corner  saloons,  of  homes  partly  paid  for 
being  sacrificed,  of  women  and  children  half  starved 
and  half  clothed,  of  drunkenness,  despair  and  pov- 
erty. The  price  was  frightful.  Moreover,  the 
union,  built  up,  after  years  of  struggle,  into  a  large 
organization,  was  ruined.  The  cause  of  organized 
labor  was   pushed  back   a   quarter   of   a   century. 


THE    MASKED    WAR  43 

Wealth  did  not  do  this,  the  laws  of  the  country  did 
not  do  it.    Anarchy  did  it. 

Ending  this  digression,  we  will  go  back  to  the 
first  day  of  October,  19 10,  when  newspapers  the 
world  over  told  the  story  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Los  Angeles  Times  and  all  the  people  at  work  in 
the  building. 


CHAPTER   VI 

BURNS    BUSY    IN    LOS    ANGELES 

On  the  first  day  of  October,  1910,  I  was  on  my 
way  to  the  Pacific  Coast  to  attend  the  convention  of 
the  American  Bankers'  Association,  my  agency  be- 
ing under  contract  to  guard  the  banks  of  the  Asso- 
ciation from  thieves  and  yeggmen. 

I  was  en  route  when  I  received  word  from  Mayor 
George  B.  Alexander  of  Los  Angeles  asking  me  to 
take  up  the  investigation  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Times. 

Los  Angeles  seemed  to  be  in  a  state  of  panic. 
Another  earthquake  would  not  have  created  such 
fear  as  the  citizens  were  experiencing.  An  earth- 
quake is  an  act  of  nature,  but  what  was  going  on  in 
Los  Angeles  was  the  act  of  a  cunning,  heartless, 
ruthless  enemy  of  society.  It  seemed  as  if  a  homi- 
cidal maniac  of  the  most  terrible  type  was  doing 
his  work.  The  shattered  walls  of  the  Times  build- 
ing were  still  sending  a  column  of  smoke  to  the  sky 
and  beneath  the  wreckage  lay  twenty-one  human  be- 
ings, broken,  dead  and  charred.  Crowding  the  po- 
lice lines  were  the  wives  and  children  of  these  inno- 
cent victims  of  the  masked  war.     The  white  faces 

44 


THE    MASKED    WAR  45 

of  these  widows  and  children  were  strained  with 
horror,  and  their  cries  of  anguish  broke  above  the 
excited  talk  of  the  crowd. 

A  great  quantity  of  eighty  per  cent  gelatin — dy- 
namite— had  been  exploded  in  an  interior  alley  of 
the  building  among  the  rolls  of  paper  and  barrels 
of  ink  stored  there.  Eighty  per  cent  gelatin  is  of 
such  tremendous  explosive  power  that  it  is  seldom 
made  or  sold.  It  is  the  kind  of  stuff  that  might  be 
used  in  blowing  up  the  fortress  of  an  enemy  in  time 
of  open  and  fair  war.  The  destruction  it  had 
wrought  was  complete  and  awful. 

But  this  work,  as  terrible  as  it  was,  did  not  seem 
to  have  been  sufficient  to  appease  the  craving  of  the 
men  who  lurked  in  the  dark.  They  had  also  placed 
under  the  home  of  General  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  the 
proprietor  of  the  Times,  enough  explosive  to 
wreck  it  and  kill  his  family.  So  also  had  they 
placed  an  infernal  machine  under  the  home  of  the 
secretary  of  the  Merchants  and  Manufacturers'  As- 
sociation. Both  of  these  mines  were  set  to  spring 
at  the  time  the  newspaper  building  was  destroyed. 
Had  the  plan  worked  out,  Los  Angeles  would  have 
been  shaken  from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  two 
homes  would  have  gone  to  destruction  with  all  in 
them,  as  the  Times  building  was  destroyed. 

The  bomb  under  the  home  of  General  Otis  was 
discovered  in  time.  A  detective  cut  open  the  suit 
case  in  which  it  was  hidden,  but  the  time  clock  within 
had  ticked  off  the  moment  for  the  explosion.     He 


46  THE   MASKED   WAR 

heard  the  whirr  of  the  alarm  winder  and  ran.  The 
bomb  exploded  in  the  open  and  no  damage  was 
done.  The  other  bomb  failed  to  explode,  the  bat- 
tery being  so  weak  that  it  proved  ineffective. 

The  Mayor  called  on  me  at  the  Hotel  Alexandria 
and  there  urged  me  to  take  up  the  investigation.  I 
assured  him  that  I  would,  and  at  the  same  time  in- 
formed him  that  we  were  already  investigating  the 
work  of  the  same  dynamiters,  and  that  I  was  sure 
I  would  be  able  to  apprehend  those  responsible  for 
the  explosion  at  Los  Angeles.  Not  only  that,  I  gave 
the  Mayor  the  names  of  the  men  responsible  for 
the  blowing  up  of  the  Los  Angeles  Times.  This  did 
not  impress  the  Mayor,  however,  as  he  merely 
looked  upon  this  as  the  proverbial  speculation  of  the 
detective.  Subsequently,  however,  as  told  by  the 
Mayor  himself,  when  we  apprehended  those  respon- 
sible for  it,  he  then  realized,  for  the  first  time,  the 
great  importance  of  my  first  statement,  which  accur- 
ately outlined,  in  a  speculative  way,  those  who  were 
later  found  to  be  actually  guilty. 

I  cautioned  the  Mayor,  on  this  occasion,  that  if 
I  was  to  make  the  investigation  that  fact  should  be 
confined  to  as  few  people  as  possible,  and  my  con- 
nection with  the  investigation  should  be  kept  an  ab- 
solute secret.  He  agreed  with  me,  and  left. 
Within  an  hour  he  returned  and  stated  that  a  most 
peculiar  situation  existed  in  Los  Angeles.  The  town 
was  divided  into  two  political  factions. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  I  had  made  the  graft  in- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  47 

vestigation  at  San  Francisco,  and  had  sought  to  jail 
those  responsible  for  the  frightful  municipal  condi- 
tions found  there,  and  because  of  the  further  fact 
that  I  was  no  respecter  of  persons,  but  had  sought 
to  do  my  whole  duty  and  place  the  responsibility 
upon  the  shoulders  of  the  men  who  were  responsible 
for  the  debauchery  of  San  Francisco,  I  had  incurred 
the  ill  will  of  those  involved,  together  with  their 
friends.  General  Otis,  the  owner  of  the  Times, 
believing  that  the  street-car  strike  in  San  Francisco 
was  really  genuine  and  brought  about  by  an  honest 
vote  of  the  employees  of  the  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, sympathized,  naturally,  with  the  owners  of 
the  company,  and  his  paper  was  fighting  for  what 
he  considered  industrial  freedom  and  the  "open" 
shop,  and  therefore  believed  the  falsehoods  that 
were  circulated  by  the  Calhoun  element.  Naturally, 
he  opposed  my  selection  to  make  this  investigation, 
as  he  had  been  bitterly  denouncing  me  in  his  news- 
paper. 

The  Mayor  notified  me  that  this  element,  repre- 
sented by  General  Otis  and  the  Merchants  &  Manu- 
facturers' Association  of  Los  Angeles,  insisted  that 
they  be  represented  by  a  Los  Angeles  lawyer  named 
Rodgers,  who  was  one  of  the  Calhoun  attorneys  at 
San  Francisco.  The  Mayor  strongly  objected  to 
the  selection  of  Rodgers,  and  informed  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Merchants  &  Manufacturers'  As- 
sociation, and  also  the  Citizens'  Committee,  which 
he  had  appointed,  that  he  was  sure  I  would  not  care 


48  THE   MASKED   WAR 

to  cooperate  with  Rodgers.  They  insisted,  how- 
ever, and  urged  the  Mayor  to  call  on  me  again, 
which  he  did.  When  he  apprised  me  of  what  the 
situation  was,  I  promptly  told  him  to  turn  the  entire 
matter  over  to  the  Merchants  &  Manufacturers' 
Association  and  the  Citizens'  Committee,  as  I  would 
certainly  not  cooperate  with  Rodgers;  that  he  was  a 
lawyer  and  not  a  detective,  and  what  they  needed  at 
that  time  was  the  service  of  the  latter.  The  Mayor 
then  returned  to  the  conference,  and  so  notified 
those  interested.  A  scramble  ensued,  in  which  it 
was  charged  that  the  Mayor  did  not  want  to  appre- 
hend those  responsible  for  the  blowing  up  of  the 
Times,  and  that  he  had  purposely  urged  me  not  to 
accept. 

When  he  returned  to  me  and  stated  these  facts 
he  pointed  out  that  he  was  placed  in  rather  a  pe- 
culiar situation,  and  that  unless  I  would  consent  to 
act  with  Rodgers,  he,  the  Mayor,  would  always  be 
blamed  if  they  failed  to  apprehend  the  dynamiters, 
and  that  this  failure  would  be  used,  as  the  Mayor 
explained,  to  discredit  his  administration.  The 
Mayor  was  visibly  affected  by  this  charge,  and  I 
promptly  assured  him  that  I  would  agree  to  co- 
operate with  Rodgers  in  case  a  conference  in  which 
I  was  to  participate  should  fail  to  eliminate  Rod- 
gers. We  then  repaired  to  the  office  of  the  Chief 
of  Police,  where  the  conference  was  taking  place. 
I  pointed  out  the  fact  that  it  was  not  necessary  to 
have  Mr.  Rodgers  in  the  matter.     But  one  of  the 


THE   MASKED   WAR  49 

reasons  advocated  by  a  member  of  the  conference 
as  to  the  necessity  of  having  Rodgers  was  the  fact 
that  Rodgers  was  able  to  determine  when  we  had 
proper  evidence.  I  assured  them  that  I  was  as  able, 
if  not  more  so,  to  determine  that  fact  as  was  Mr. 
Rodgers.  However,  the  upshot  of  it  all  was  that 
Mr.  Rodgers  was  brought  in,  and  we  "buried  the 
hatchet."  Rodgers  and  myself  then  held  a  confer- 
ence, in  which  I  outlined  the  preliminary  steps  to  be 
taken,  especially  the  fact  that  it  should  all  be  done 
in  the  strictest  secrecy  possible,  and  not  exploited  in 
the  newspapers,  and  that  I  should  not  be  known  in 
the  investigation  at  all.  This  was  perfectly  agree- 
able to  Mr.  Rodgers. 

I  then  wired  my  Chicago  office  to  dispatch,  as 
quickly  as  possible,  two  of  the  operatives  who  par- 
ticipated in  the  Peoria  investigation,  and  to  bring 
with  them  the  unexploded  bomb  found  at  Peoria. 
When  they  arrived,  and  we  compared  the  unex- 
ploded bomb  that  was  found  at  the  residence  of  the 
secretary,  with  the  unexploded  bomb  that  was  found 
at  Los  Angeles  at  the  home  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Merchants  and  Manufacturers'  Association,  it 
was  disclosed  that  both  were  fashioned  by  the  same 
hand,  which  left  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the  iden- 
tity of  the  persons  responsible. 


CHAPTER   VII 

TRACING    UNEXPLODED   BOMB 

I  turned  over  to  my  operatives  the  unexploded 
bomb  found  by  the  police  in  Los  Angeles  and  put 
them  to  work  tracing  it  to  its  maker.  One  of  the  re- 
ports of  "H.  A.  G."  tells  of  their  work. 

H.  A.  G.  reports: 

"Accompanied  by  Assistant  Manager  C.  J.  S.,  I 
called  this  morning  on  Principal  W.  J.  B.,  and,  by 
appointment,  met  Mayor  Alexander  and  Chief  of 
Police  Galloway.  The  latter  gentleman  produced 
the  apparatus  used  by  the  men  who  left  an  infernal 
machine  found  unexploded  at  the  residence  of  the 
secretary  of  the  Merchants  &  Manufacturers'  As- 
sociation. It  consisted  of  a  small  intermittent  alarm 
clock,  made  by  the  New  Haven  Clock  Company, 
and  a  No.  5  Columbia  dry  battery.  These  two  men- 
tioned articles  were  fastened  by  wire  to  a  small 
board.  On  the  clock,  soldered  to  the  alarm  key, 
is  a  small  piece  of  brass.  A  similar  brass  plate  is 
fastened  by  a  screw  and  nut  to  the  board — the  two 
pieces  of  brass  forming  the  contact  for  exploding 
the  dynamite  by  means  of  wires  attached  from  clock 
to  battery. 

50 


THE    MASKED    WAR  51 

"This  apparatus  is  identically  the  same  as  that 
which  was  found  in  East  Peoria,  Illinois,  on  Sep- 
tember 5,  1 9 10.  The  manner  in  which  the  brass 
plate  is  grooved  to  fit  the  winding  key,  the  simi- 
larity of  the  soldering  job,  which  shows  skill,  the 
kind  of  brass  and  screw  used,  the  manner  of  fasten- 
ing the  articles  to  the  board,  and  the  fact  that  the 
battery  and  clock  are  of  the  same  manufacture,  as 
those  found  in  Peoria,  would  seem  to  indicate  the 
same  person  placing  them  here  who  placed  them  in 
Peoria. 

"The  stamped  letters  on  the  bottom  of  the  bat- 
tery are  rather  indistinct,  but  a  capital  *L'  is  dis- 
tinguishable. The  letters  on  the  battery  found  at 
Peoria  are  'O  24  Y.' 

"His  Honor,  the  Mayor,  and  Chief  of  Police 
Galloway  were  informed  that  we  have  been  for- 
tunate enough  in  the  East  to  prevent  any  account  of 
our  investigations  being  published  and  that  it  was 
highly  important  that  similar  conditions  should  ob- 
tain here  and  the  reporters  be  prevented  from  ob- 
taining any  information  as  to  the  movements  made 
or  evidence  collected  by  this  Agency. 

"A  further  comparison  may  be  derived  from  the 
following  brief  account  of  the  explosions  in  Indian- 
apolis, Indiana,  and  Peoria,  Illinois: 

"At  Indianapolis,  on  October  25,  1909,  at  one 
o'clock  a.  m.,  three  different  structures  in  the 
course  of  erection,  under  the  direction  of  Contractor 
Von  Spreckelsen,  and  situated  at  remote  parts  of  the 


52  THE    MASKED   WAR 

city  from  each  other,  were  partially  destroyed  by  ex- 
plosions which  were  set  off  at  exactly  the  same  mo- 
ment. At  the  same  time  Von  Spreckelsen's  barn 
was  burned,  destroying  two  automobiles.  The  fire 
occurred  simultaneously  with  the  three  explosions. 

"Three  men  are  known  to  have  been  implicated 
and  several  others  suspected.  An  automobile  was 
used  in  this  instance  and  three  men  used  it  to  leave 
the  city  immediately  after  the  affair.  It  was  a  gray 
machine.  A  similar  auto  was  used  in  connection 
with  the  Peoria  affair. 

"At  10.30  p.  m.  on  the  night  of  September  4, 
1 9 10,  two  large  girders  in  East  Peoria  belonging  to 
the  McClintic-Marshall  Construction  Company, 
and  intended  for  a  new  railroad  bridge  across  the 
Illinois  River,  were  destroyed,  and  at  the  same  in- 
stant the  works  of  Lucas  &  Sons,  at  Peoria,  about 
three  miles  distant,  were  almost  totally  wrecked  by 
two  explosions  occurring  in  their  plant. 

"On  the  following  day  searchers  discovered,  in 
East  Peoria,  a  can  containing  ten  quarts  of  nitro- 
glycerin leaning  against  one  of  the  girders  within  a 
few  feet  of  those  destroyed.  Inserted  in  the  can 
were  two  wires,  terminating  in  a  large  fulminating 
cap,  such  as  is  used  for  the  purpose  of  firing  explo- 
sives; the  other  ends  of  the  wires  being  attached  to 
a  battery  and  clock.  The  battery  was  a  Columbia 
dry  battery,  No.  5,  and  the  clock  was  an  intermittent 
alarm  clock,  made  by  the  New  Haven  Clock  Com- 
pany.    These  were  wired  to  a  small  board  upon 


THE    MASKED    WAR  53 

which  was  bolted  a  piece  of  brass  and  a  similar  strip 
of  the  same  material  was  soldered  to  the  winding 
key  of  the  clock  in  such  a  manner  that  when  the 
alarm  was  released  the  two  pieces  of  brass  would 
form  a  contact  and  explode  the  cap  by  means  of 
the  battery.  This  apparatus  was  identically  the 
same  as  that  now  in  possession  of  the  Los  Angeles 
authorities." 

We  began  that  very  day  to  trace  the  battery 
found  in  Los  Angeles,  and  found  the  man  who  had 
sold  it  and  others  to  the  dynamiter.  We  got  a  good 
description  of  the  man  and  we  learned  that  few  of 
this  particular  make  of  battery  were  sold.  The 
one  in  question  had  corroded  and  had  become  so 
weak  that  it  had  failed  to  set  off  the  explosive. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

BURNS    HIMSELF   SHADOWED 

I  had  good  reason  to  believe  that  San  Francisco 
would  afford  me  the  field  most  productive  of  ma- 
terial upon  which  to  bend  my  efforts  and  I  pro- 
ceeded there  immediately.  I  was  somewhat  ham- 
pered with  the  endeavors  of  the  Los  Angeles  local 
investigators,  but  managed  to  keep  in  the  back- 
ground while  the  newspaper  men  followed  them  and 
were  given  interviews. 

It  was  through  Captain  Peterson,  of  the  Oak- 
land Police  Department — now  the  chief  of  the  force 
there — that  I  gained  much  aid  in  unraveling  the 
mystery  of  who  blew  up  the  Los  Angeles  Times. 
It  was  through  him  that  I  got  a  glimpse  of  the  boat 
used  by  the  dynamiters  in  carrying  their  cargo  of 
explosives  to  Los  Angeles.  Chief  of  Police  Seymour 
of  San  Francisco,  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  police 
craft,  also  aided  me  a  great  deal  while  I  was  inves- 
tigating there  the  source  of  supply  of  the  dynami- 
ters and  their  method  of  transporting  it. 

I  learned  without  difficulty  the  source  of  the  sup- 
ply. The  very  analysis  of  the  dynamite  that  did 
not  explode  in  Los  Angeles  would  give  me  this  in- 
formation.    I  was  near  the  place  of  manufactory 

54 


THE    MASKED    WAR  55 

and  knew  just  how  the  stuff  was  taken  to  Los  An- 
geles. I  was  getting  nearer  to  the  heels  of  the  men 
who  had  done  this  frightful  crime  and  yet,  all  the 
time,  I  was  myself  being  shadowed  by  detectives 
evidently  employed  by  two  inimical  forces :  one  force 
representing  the  people  who  opposed  me  in  the  San 
Francisco  exposures  and  the  other  force,  the  people 
who  had  caused  the  blowing  up  of  the  Times  in 
Los  Angeles.  I  knew  that  I  was  shadowed  all  the 
time.  I  could  not  help  but  know  it.  After  I  had 
finished  that  part  of  the  investigation  necessary  for 
trailing  the  men  who  had  bought  the  dynamite  and 
transported  it  to  Los  Angeles  and  was  ready  to  start 
from  San  Francisco  to  my  next  point,  I  was  com- 
pelled to  send  my  baggage  out  of  the  city  by  one 
way  and  then  take  a  train  by  a  circuitous  route,  with 
my  operative,  Mr.  H.  A.  Greaves,  in  order  to  shake 
these  followers  from  my  heels. 

But  before  ridding  myself  of  this  annoyance  I 
had  been  able  to  get  material  evidence  in  San  Fran- 
cisco and  the  neighborhood  of  the  city. 

I  found  that  the  dynamite  used  in  Los  Angeles 
had  been  made  by  the  Giant  Powder  Company,  and 
that  Mr.  Bruce  McCall,  one  of  the  salesmen  for  the 
firm,  had  attended  to  the  details  of  the  sale.  Two 
men,  giving  the  names  of  Morris  and  Bryson,  had 
bought  the  explosive  through  him.  I  looked  up  Mr. 
McCall  and  also  Manager  R.  H.  Rennie  of  the 
sales  department  and  Thomas  J.  Branson,  the  secre- 
tary of  the  company. 


56  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Mr.  McCall  said  that  about  two  o'clock  on  Sep- 
tember 15,  he  received  a  call  on  the  telephone  from 
a  man  who  said  that  he  represented  the  Bryce  Con- 
struction Company  of  Sacramento.  The  man  on 
the  phone  said  that  he  wanted  some  eighty  per  cent, 
gelatin  and  that  he  would  send  for  it  the  next  day. 

On  Friday,  September  16,  at  about  2.30  p.  m., 
a  man  called  at  the  office  of  the  Giant  Powder  Com- 
pany, and  gave  the  name  of  Bryson.  When  Mr. 
McCall  reminded  him  that  the  name  given  over 
the  telephone  was  Bryce,  he  corrected  McCall,  and 
claimed  that  the  name  had  been  given  as  Bryson. 
This  man  said,  when  asked  for  what  purpose  he  de- 
sired such  high  power  dynamite,  that  he  needed  it 
to  blow  stumps  at  a  place  near  Auburn,  Cal.,  as 
they  were  very  hard  to  get  out  and  that  he  had 
broken  several  stump  pullers  trying  to  get  them  out. 
Mr.  McCall  stated  that  this  strength  of  gelatin  was 
too  strong  and  more  expensive  than  necessary. 
Bryson  insisted  on  getting  it,  stating  that  he  had  a 
contract  with  a  man  named  Clarke  who  was  doing 
the  work  and  that  the  contract  specified  the  80  per 
cent,  gelatin.  He  was  told  that  they  had  none  of 
the  80  per  cent,  on  hand,  and  he  then  asked  for  90 
per  cent.,  and  was  told  that  that  also  was  not  in 
stock.  He  then  again  insisted  on  having  80  per 
cent,  gelatin,  and  was  informed  that  they  would 
have  it  made  up  and  that  he  would  then  be  able  to 
get  it.  He  paid  Mr.  McCall  the  sum  of  eighty-two 
dollars  and  ten  cents   ($82.10),  eighty  dollars  of 


THE    MASKED    WAR  57 

currency  in  twenty-dollar  bills  and  $2.10  in  silver. 
The  bills  were  United  States  gold  certificates. 

This  man  had  quite  a  large  amount  of  currency, 
which  he  took  from  the  inside  pocket  of  his  coat  in 
a  flat  package,  taking  them  from  a  book  of  some 
kind.  He  was  apparently  an  Eastern  man,  judging 
from  this. 

Mr.  McCall  directed  him  how  to  find  the  Giant 
Powder  Company's  works  at  Giant,  California,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Bay,  and  cautioned  him  not 
to  get  the  wrong  place.  He  replied  that  he  knew 
the  Bay,  and  knew  the  right  place  all  right. 

This  man  was  described  as  follows: 

Age,  32,  or  thereabouts. 

Height,  5  feet  10  or  11  inches. 

Weight,  190,  or  thereabouts. 

Face,  smooth. 

Complexion,  sandy. 

Eyes,  gray  or  dark  blue,  one  eye  (left)  had  in- 
dentation at  outer  end,  might  have  been  from  blow. 

Hair,  sandy  and  wavy. 

Well-built,  well-developed  chest  and  shoulders. 

Carriage,  erect. 

Movements,  quick  and  active. 

Clothing,  dark,  of  mixed  goods,  grayish  color; 
sack  coat,  laydown  collar,  four-in-hand  tie. 

Mr.  Branson's  description  tallied  with  that,  and 
both  he  and  McCall  were  quite  certain  they  could 
identify  him  if  they  saw  him  again.  Mr.  McCall 
had  Mr.  Branson  look  at  this  man,  as  his  suspicions 


58  THE    MASKED    WAR 

were  aroused  slightly,  and  after  he  had  done  so 
Branson  gave  the  man  a  receipt  for  the  money  paid. 
Branson  also  said  to  McCall  at  the  time,  "Take  a 
good  look  at  this  man,  for  we  may  have  to  identify 
him  some  time.  I  don't  like  the  look  in  his  eye." 
Mr.  Branson  stated  that  this  was  the  only  case  in 
all  his  experience  wherein  he  had  been  at  all  sus- 
picious of  a  man,  and  he  did  not  like  the  manner  in 
which  the  order  was  given. 

Mr.  McCall  stated  that  judging  from  the  man's 
voice  he  was  the  same  one  that  telephoned  to  him. 
It  was  an  ordinary  male  voice  and  had  no  peculiarity 
that  he  noted. 

On  Thursday,  September  22,  this  man  called 
again,  accompanied  by  a  second  man,  who  was  de- 
scribed as  follows : 

Age,  30  years  or  thereabouts. 

Height,  5  feet  10  inches. 

Weight,  160  or  165  pounds. 

Build,  medium. 

Face,  smooth. 

Features,  regular. 

Eyes,  dark;  very  black. 

Hair,  dark. 

Clothing,  dark  material;  derby  hat. 

Appearance,  possibly  college  graduate,  used  good 
English,  and  talked  like  an  educated  man. 

Both  men  used  good  English.  No.  1  talked  flu- 
ently, but  No.  2  was  not  talkative  at  all.  No.  1 
stated  that  he  had  killed  a  lot  of  jack-rabbits  while 


THE   MASKED    WAR  59 

blowing  stumps  and  seemed  familiar  with  the 
process. 

After  these  men  went  out,  McCall,  Branson,  and 
Rennie  discussed  the  matter  together,  and  as  No.  1 
had  stated  that  the  stuff  was  to  be  taken  to  Auburn, 
California,  they  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  per- 
haps it  was  for  the  purpose  of  holding  up  a  train 
and  it  was  decided  to  notify  the  special  agent  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company,  and  this  was  at  once 
done.  Apparently  no  attention  was  paid  to  this.  It 
had  been  agreed  that  the  men  would  call  for  the 
stuff  next  day  at  the  works,  and  Mr.  Wines,  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company,  Special  Agent  Depart- 
ment, was  personally  informed  of  this,  and  it  was 
suggested  to  him  that  he  place  men  to  at  least 
shadow  the  launch  in  which  these  men  were  to  re- 
ceive the  stuff.  This  was  not  done  as  far  as  we 
knew. 

Mr.  Branson  went  to  Sacramento  on  the  river 
steamer  on  September  23,  the  day  the  launch  was  to 
get  the  stuff,  and  as  the  man,  No.  1,  had  stated  that 
he  was  going  up  the  river  to  Sacramento  with  it,  in 
the  launch,  Mr.  Branson  was  on  the  lookout  all  the 
way  up,  hoping  to  see  the  boat,  but  he  declared  that 
no  such  boat  was  to  be  seen  on  the  river  on  that 
date. 

On  September  22,  a  telephone  call  was  received 
at  the  office  of  the  Giant  Powder  Company  from  a 
man  who  said:  "This  is  Leonard.  I  want  to  get 
the  powder  for  Bryson.    Will  I  have  to  get  an  or- 


60  THE   MASKED   WAR 

der?"  Mr.  Rennle,  hoping  to  get  a  look  at  the 
boat,  replied  that  he  would  take  the  order  down  to 
the  boat  to  him.  This  man,  Leonard,  replied:  "The 
boat  is  now  at  Sausalito,  and  I  will  send  my  man  to 
you  for  the  order."  This  was  at  1.30  p.  m.  About 
2.30  p.  m.  a  man,  whom  we  shall  call  No.  3,  called 
at  the  office  of  the  Giant  Powder  Company  with  a 
letter,  which  McCall  noted  had  the  address,  "R.  F. 
D.  Auburn,"  on  it.  He  stated  that  he  had  come  for 
the  powder  for  Bryson.  His  description  is  given  as 
follows : 

Age,  30  to  35  years. 

Height,  5  feet  6  inches. 

Weight,  140  pounds. 

Hair,  jet  black,  straight,  smooth,  parted  in  mid- 
dle and  pasted  down  flat. 

Eyes,  black  and  snappy. 

Complexion,  swarthy. 

Features,  sharp;  deep  lines  from  cheek-bones  on 
both  sides,  from  eyes  toward  chin. 

Shoulders,  square. 

Clothing,  dirty  colored  gray  suit;  sack  coat;  black 
fedora  hat;  winged  collar;  fairly  well  dressed. 

Voice,  foreign  accent  very  pronounced. 

Stated  he  was  Spanish,  and  when  asked  for  his 
name  said  it  was  Morris,  pronouncing  it  Morrice, 
with  accent  on  last  syllable. 

Man  No.  3  was  asked  to  describe  the  size  and 
name  of  the  launch  which  the  goods  were  to  be  de- 
livered to,  and  he  stated  that  he  would  have  to  go 


THE    MASKED    WAR  61 

to  Oakland  and  get  this  description,  as  he  would  see 
Leonard  there.  He  left,  but  returned  in  a  short 
time,  too  short  a  time  to  go  to  Oakland,  and  stated 
that  it  was  a  26-foot  launch  with  a  12-horse  power 
engine,  and  was  named  the  Peerless.  An  order 
was  thereupon  made  out  to  the  works  at  Giant,  Cal., 
to  deliver  the  stuff,  that  had  been  specially  made,  to 
the  launch  Peerless.  This  was  about  4.50  p.  m.  on 
September  22. 

Mr.  Rennie  and  Mr.  McCall  talked  with  man 
No.  3  until  5.30  p.  m.,  and  although  he  was  talka- 
tive he  was  all  business,  and  gave  no  information 
that  appeared  suspicious.  He  was  asked  why  they 
wanted  such  a  high-power  explosive  for  the  purpose 
of  blowing  stumps,  and  he  stated  that  they  also  had 
a  large  number  of  hard  granite  bowlders  to  blow, 
and  this  was  why  they  wanted  the  high-power  stuff. 
He  said:  "They  are  very  hard,  you  know."  He  ap- 
peared familiar  with  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of 
Auburn,  where  the  stuff  was  supposed  to  be  taken. 
McCall  telephoned  the  works  at  Auburn  not  to  de- 
liver the  goods  to  any  but  the  launch  Peerless. 

About  10.30  or  11  a.  m.,  September  23,  this 
launch,  with  the  three  men  described  above,  called 
at  the  works  at  Giant,  California,  and  the  stuff  was 
delivered. 


CHAPTER    IX 

AFTER  TWO    HIRED  ANARCHISTS 

We  had  descriptions  of  "Bryce,"  "Leonard"  and 
"Morris,"  and  a  description  of  the  launch  they  had 
used.  The  boat  was  found.  The  owner  described 
the  people  who  had  rented  it  for  a  cruise  and  who 
had  put  down  a  deposit  of  $500  cash  for  its  return 
in  good  condition.  The  launch  was  named  the 
Peerless,  but  the  dynamiters  had  renamed  it  the 
Pastime. 

More  descriptions  of  the  three  men  came  along 
as  we  looked  up  every  one  who  had  seen  them  be- 
fore and  after  starting  away  with  the  launch.  The 
house  rented  for  the  storage  of  the  explosive  was 
next  found  in  San  Francisco.  In  the  front  room 
under  a  large  canvas  cover  were  ten  cases  of  dyna- 
mite. Eight  were  sewed  up  in  burlap  and  two 
were  opened.  They  were  all  stamped  "J.  B. 
Bryson,"  the  name  given  by  the  man  to  the  powder 
company  who  had  first  said  he  was  "Bryce."  The 
owner  of  the  house  said  that  he  had  rented  it  to  a 
man  named  William  Capp.  The  description  of 
Capp  fitted  that  of  the  man  who  gave  the  name  of 
Morris,  when  he  called  for  the  dynamite  for  Bryce 

or  Bryson. 

62 


THE    MASKED    WAR  63 

The  canvas,  covering  the  boxes  of  dynamite,  bore 
the  name  of  the  maker  and  I  looked  him  up.     He 
remembered   selling   it   and   delivering   it  to    1565 
Grove  street.    We  looked  up  the  address  and  found 
that  a   family  named   Caplan  had  occupied  a   flat 
there  just  before  the  Times  explosion  and  had  left 
immediately  afterward.     Capp  and  Caplan  were  the 
same  and  the  Caplan  was  David  Caplan,  notorious 
as  an  Anarchist,  his  wife  being  a  relative  of  Emma 
Goldman.     Now  we  had  uncovered  somebody.     It 
did  not  take  us  long  to  learn  that  the  man  who  used 
the  name  of  Leonard  was  M.  A.  Schmidt,  another 
Anarchist,  better  known  as  "Schmitty."     We  found 
where  Schmidt  had  been  rooming  and  where  Bryce 
had  been  rooming  also.     Thus  we  had  located  the 
San  Francisco  addresses  of  the  three  men  who  had 
bought   the   dynamite   for   the   destruction   of   the 
Times.    The  McGraw  of  the  Peoria  explosions  did 
not  seem  to  be  in  on  this  job.     We  traced  Bryce 
through  many  cafes  and  saloons,  found  his  acquain- 
tances and  realized  that  he  was  not  a  native  of  the 
Coast.     I  left  him  for  the  men  under  my  son,  Ray- 
mond,   to   trail   and   determined   to   go    after    the 
Anarchists.     Caplan  and  Schmidt  were  the  men  I 
chose  to  hunt  and  I  did  the  best  I  could  to  take  with 
me  on  this  search  a  man,  who  knew  Caplan  in  San 
Francisco,  but  was  unable  to  get  him  to  go  with 
me.     Therefore,   on  October   20th,    19 10,   accom- 
panied by  Operative  H.  A.  G.  I  slipped  quietly  out 
of  the  city,  dodging  my  shadows.     We  shut  our- 


64  THE    MASKED   WAR 

selves  in  a  stateroom  and  got  under  way  for  Taco- 
ma  without  anyone  knowing  that  we  had  left  town. 

My  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles  and  Chicago  and 
Indianapolis  managers  all  had  their  instructions  and 
practically  every  reliable  man  of  my  staff  was  at 
work.     My  stay  was  to  be  indefinite. 

We  hoped  to  uncover  Caplan  and  Schmidt  through 
watching  their  friends  and  fellow  Anarchists.  Cap- 
lan had  a  wife.  Both  were  known  and  had  lived  in 
the  Anarchist  settlement  of  "Home  Colony,"  about 
twenty  miles  from  Tacoma.  While  our  operatives 
were  seeking  them  outside  we  would  lie  in  wait  for 
them  or  for  a  letter  from  either  of  them  inside  of 
the  Colony. 

In  Tacoma  I  assigned  operatives  to  explore  the 
Anarchist  colony  in  the  disguise  of  engineers  and 
surveyors.  They  secured  maps  of  the  country, 
equipment  for  surveying  and  started  off.  There 
had  been  labor  troubles  in  Seattle  and  a  building 
had  been  blown  up  during  the  month  of  August.  I 
started  an  investigation  there  among  people  who 
handled  batteries  and  found  J.  D.  Waggoner,  a 
teacher  in  the  Trade  School  of  that  city  who  had 
been  called  upon  by  "J.  B.  Bryce"  to  instruct  him 
in  setting  off  explosives  and  sell  him  a  coil  for  the 
generation  of  the  spark.  Bryce  applied  for  this 
coil  at  the  shop  kept  by  the  teacher.  He  showed 
Waggoner  a  small  can  containing  two  sticks  of 
dynamite.  On  the  can  was  marked  "Portland." 
Waggoner  said  to  Bryce  that  he  did  not  know  that 


THE    MASKED    WAR  65 

dynamite  was  made  at  Portland.  Bryce  replied 
that  it  was  not  Portland,  Ore.,  but  Portland,  Ind. 

Here,  then,  we  had  Bryce  in  Seattle  with  explo- 
sives bought  from  the  very  place  where  "J.  B.  Mc- 
Graw"  bought  the  stuff  for  the  Peoria  explosions. 
But  McGraw  and  Bryce  were  not  the  same  people. 
Their  description  did  not  fit  at  all.  I  was  then 
more  confident  than  ever  that  the  dynamite  outrages 
all  over  the  country  were  directed  from  some  head- 
quarters and  by  some  master  mind. 

In  our  code  we  kept  the  wires  hot  as  the  sur- 
veillance of  the  structural  iron  workers'  "leaders" 
was  carried  on  in  and  about  Indianapolis. 

I  returned  to  Tacoma  and  directed  the  search 
for  the  two  Anarchists  who  had  assisted  Bryce  in 
his  job  of  blowing  the  Times  to  pieces  and  snuffing 
out  twenty-one  lives. 

Home  Colony  is  the  nest  of  Anarchy  in  the 
United  States.  There  are  about  1,200  of  them 
living  there  without  any  regard  for  a  single  decent 
thing  in  life.  They  exist  in  a  state  of  free  love,  are 
notoriously  unfaithful  to  the  mates  thus  chosen  and 
are  so  crooked  that  even  in  this  class  of  rogues  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  any  hint  of  honor. 

The  Colony  did  have  a  post  office,  but  when 
McKinley  was  assassinated  the  people  of  this  com- 
munity gave  a  celebration  of  the  event  ending  in  a 
debauch.  The  Government  took  the  post  office  away 
from  them.  They  do  share,  however,  in  the  rural 
free  delivery  but  the  ordinary  business  of  Anarch- 


66  THE    MASKED    WAR 

ists  is  of  such  a  nature  that  before  depositing  or 
receiving  a  letter,  as  we  later  found  out,  all  kinds 
of  precautions  were  taken  to  prevent  an  outsider 
getting  hold  of  any  communication. 

In  chapters  as  short  as  it  is  possible  to  make 
them  and  to  give  the  public  the  full  picture  of  Home 
Colony  and  its  people  I  shall  include  the  reports 
of  the  men  I  sent  there  to  investigate. 


CHAPTER  X 

WORK  IN  TACOMA  ANARCHIST   COLONY 

The  first  report  of  an  operative  within  the  Anar- 
chist colony  was  sent  to  me  in  Tacoma.  It  was  as 
follows : 

"Assistant  Manager  C.  J.  S.  reports: 
"Home  Colony,  Wash., 

"Friday,  November  4th,  19 10. 

"To-day  at  7  130  a.  m.,  in  company  with  Investi- 
gator H.  J.  L.,  we  proceeded  to  acquaint  ourselves 
with  conditions  surrounding  Home  Colony  and  its 
residents. 

"Our  pretext  as  surveyors  permitted  us  to  move 
around  without  attracting  attention.  We  found 
that  a  number  of  the  community  occupy  residences 
in  places  isolated  in  the  timber  and  not  easy  of 
access.  We  located  the  residence  of  Jay  Fox,  who 
is  supposed  to  be  connecting  with  Caplan;  also  se- 
cured a  look  at  Fox  and  his  wife.  The  home  he 
occupies  is  so  situated  that  it  will  be  hard  to  cover 
without  attracting  attention.  We  covered  the  coun- 
try thoroughly  in  the  vicinity  of  Home  Colony  and 
found  numerous  places  where  Caplan  could  remain 
in  safe  hiding. 

67 


68  THE   MASKED   WAR 

"We  also  noted  at  what  time  the  rural  free  de- 
livery at  Jay  Fox's  residence  is  made  by  the  carrier, 
so  that  we  can  act  when  the  proper  time  comes. 

"I  discontinued  at  9  :oo  p.  m.  without  seeing 
anyone  who  could  answer  Caplan's  description." 

I  was  then  trailing  the  Fox  family  in  the  hope  of 
getting  Caplan.  I  had  received  information  that 
Caplan  had  been  employed  on  a  paper  run  by  Olaf 
Tveitmoe.  I  had  reason  to  believe  that  Caplan  had 
been  employed  to  assist  in  the  destruction  of  the 
Times  in  Los  Angeles.  I  knew  that  he  was  an 
Anarchist  and  also  knew  that  he  was  a  friend  of 
Fox.  My  hope  was  to  get  him  and  get  from  him 
a  confession. 

My  operatives  in  the  Anarchist  colony  continued 
to  report  to  me  day  by  day  and  I  include  their 
reports  here: 

"Assistant  Manager  C.  J.  S.  reports: 

"Home  Colony,  via  Tacoma,  Wash., 

"November   5th,    1910. 

"To-day  at  7  130  a.  m.,  in  company  with  Investi- 
gator H.  J.  L.,  I  took  up  a  surveillance  on  the 
residence  of  Jay  Fox.  At  7  :45  a.  m.  he  departed, 
carrying  in  his  hand  two  letters  in  large  envelopes, 
proceeding  to  the  boat  dock.  He  gave  them  to  a 
girl  14  years  of  age  who  in  turn  gave  them  to  a 
woman  evidently  her  mother  who  placed  them  in- 
side of  a  small  hand  satchel.    As  it  was  evident  the 


THE    MASKED    WAR  69 

letters  had  been  given  to  mail  in  Tacoma,  I  decided 
to  keep  them  under  surveillance,  as  it  was  evident 
that  Fox  is  sending  mail  outside  of  the  Lake  Bay 
post  office.  On  arrival  in  Tacoma,  the  woman  and 
girl  deposited  the  letters  in  a  mail  box  near  the 
Olympus  Hotel. 

"Both  bore  the  return  address,  'The  Agitator, 
Lake  Bay,  Wash.' 

"After  discussing  matters  with  the  informant 
relative  to  future  matters  of  this  kind,  at  2  130  p.  m. 
I  departed  by  boat  and  returned  to  Home  Colony. 
On  arrival  at  6  :oo  p.  m.  I  consulted  with  Investiga- 
tor H.  J.  L.  relative  to  the  information  developed 
during  the  day,  the  results  of  which  will  be  found 
embodied  in  his  report  for  this  day. 

"I  then  discontinued." 


"Assistant  Manager  C.  J.  S.  reports: 

"Home  Colony,  via  Tacoma,  Wash., 
"Monday,  November  7th,  1910. 

"To-day  at  7  a.  m.,  in  company  with  Investiga- 
tor H.  J.  L.,  I  took  up  a  surveillance  on  the  resi- 
dence of  Jay  Fox.  At  7  145  a.  m.  his  son,  about 
nine  years  of  age,  went  to  the  boat-landing  with  a 
bundle  of  mail  and  handed  it  to  a  woman,  who  was, 
evidently,  to  mail  it  in  Tacoma.  I  noticed  that 
'Blank,'  who  resides  near  Jay  Fox,  and  who  I  had 
been  informed  is  not  in  accord  with  the  socialistic 
and  anarchistic  tendencies  of  the  colony,  was  also 
going  to  Tacoma  on  the  boat.     I  decided  to  leave 


70  THE    MASKED    WAR 

with  him  and  also  watch  the  mail  carried  by  the 
woman,  which  she  had  placed  in  a  small  bag  she 
carried. 

"En  route,  I  discussed  matters  with  'Blank'  and 
found  out  that  he  was  bitterly  opposed  to  Jay  Fox 
and  his  associates.  'Blank'  can  evidently  be  used 
to  advantage  and  is  a  smart,  intelligent  man.  He 
intimated  that  he  knew  a  great  deal  relative  to  their 
movements,  which  would  have  a  direct  bearing  on 
the  Los  Angeles  outrage.- 

"En  route,  the  woman  who  was  carrying  the  mail 
got  in  touch  with  an  Anarchist  named  Heyman,  a 
resident  of  the  colony.  When  they  alighted  from 
the  boat,  I  followed  the  woman,  who  proceeded  to 
the  Tacoma  Gas  Company's  office.  Here  she 
opened  her  hand  bag  and  I  noticed  that  she  no 
longer  had  this  mail,  evidently  having  given  it  over 
to  Heyman.  The  latter  went  to  Seattle  on  the  in- 
terurban  railway.  The  transfer  must  have  been 
made  on  the  boat. 

"At  2  :30  p.  m.  I  returned  to  Home  Colony  on 
the  boat,  and  on  arrival  at  6  p.  m.,  in  company 
with  Investigator  H.  J.  L.,  I  proceeded  to  Lake 
Bay,  where  we  consulted  with  Principal  W.  J.  B. 
and  formulated  plans  for  watching  a  decoy  letter 
that  is  to  be  handled  by  Jay  Fox.  During  my  stay 
in  Tacoma  I  was  in  company  with  'Blank'  who 
informed  me  that  Jay  Fox's  wife  frequently  went 
to  Seattle  and  frequented  a  house  at  17  Jackson 
Street,  where  Anarchists  hang  out. 


THE    MASKED    WAR  71 

"I  paved  the  way  for  a  further  interview  with 
'Blank.'  " 


"Assistant  Manager  C.  J.  S.  reports: 
"Home  Colony,  Wash., 

"Thursday,  November  10th,  19 10. 

"To-day  at  8  :oo  a.  m.,  after  discussing  matters 
with  H.  J.  L.  relative  to  Jay  Fox  having  mailed 
four  letters  through  the  Lake  Bay  P.  O.  that  might 
have  some  bearing  on  the  Los  Angeles  case,  I  de- 
parted on  the  boat  and  proceeded  to  Tacoma.  On 
arrival,  I  called  at  the  Federal  Building  and  con- 
sulted with  Principal  W.  J.  B. 

"At  2 rjo  p.  m.,  we  departed  on  the  boat.  I 
accompanied  Principal  W.  J.  B.  to  Lake  Bay.  En 
route,  we  discussed  matters  relative  to  the  delivery 
of  a  decoy  letter  to  Jay  Fox,  which  had  been  ar- 
ranged for  by  Principal  W.  J.  B.  and  plans  were 
formulated  to  keep  this  letter  under  surveillance 
after  it  was  delivered  to  Fox. 

"On  arrival  in  Home  Colony,  I  consulted  with 
Investigator  H.  J.  L.,  and  at  9:00  p.  m.  discon- 
tinued." 


CHAPTER  XI 

BURNS    SHADOWS   THE   ANARCHISTS 

The  reader  may  or  may  not  understand  that  the 
object  of  our  long  and  tedious  work  here  was  not 
to  uncover  Anarchy  in  the  United  States,  but  was 
to  get  Caplan.  We  had  located  his  wife  and  had 
her  under  shadow.  We  knew  that  he  had  been 
in  touch  with  Fox  and  we  expected  him  to  get  in 
touch  with  him  again.  I  looked  for  him  to  show 
up  by  letter  or  in  person  in  Home  Colony,  and 
while  we  covered  this  end  of  the  case  we  uncovered 
the  interesting  history  of  the  settlement. 

Here  was  my  next  report  from  within  the  lines 
of  the  Anarchists: 

"Assistant  Manager  C.  J.  S.  reports: 

"Tacoma,  Wash.,  Friday,  Nov.  nth,  1910. 

"To-day  at  7  :oo  a.  m.,  having  learned  that  the 
Anarchists  were  to  hold  a  meeting  in  Tacoma  to- 
night to  commemorate  the  Haymarket  Riot  in 
Chicago,  in  company  with  Operative  H.  J.  L.,  I 
watched  the  departure  of  the  Home  Colony  con- 
tingent on  the  8  :oo  a.  m.  boat.  A  number  of  the 
Anarchists  departed  but  we  did  not  observe  Jay 
Fox  among  them.     His  wife,  Esther,  boarded  the 

72 


THE    MASKED    WAR  73 

boat.  As  it  was  probable  that  Fox  might  have 
proceeded  by  launch  to  Steilacoom  and  had  taken 
the  interurban  car  from  there,  which  would  permit 

him  to  get  in  touch  with  ,  through  whom 

the  decoy  letter  mentioned  in  yesterday's  report  is 
being  sent,  we  proceeded  to  Lake  Bay  where  we 
consulted  with  Principal  W.  J.  B.  It  was  decided 
that  I  proceed  to  Steilacoom  by  launch  and  from 
there   go   to  Tacoma    and  take   up   a   surveillance 

of  at  his  place  of  business  in  the  Fidelity 

Building.  Proceeded  to  Tacoma.  On  arrival,  I 
called  at  the  Fidelity  Building,  where  I  secured  a 

look  af .     He  remained  in  the  room  all  of 

the  afternoon,  neither  Fox  nor  his  wife  putting 
in  an  appearance.  At  5:45  p.  m.  he  departed  and 
boarded  a  car,  proceeded  to  his  residence,  No.  817 
East  nth  St.  I  remained  until  9:00  p.  m.,  and  as 
it  was  evident  he  intended  to  remain  at  home,  I 
then  proceeded  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Socialists'  hall 
where  the  Anarchists'  meeting  was  being  held. 
When  the  meeting  broke  up,  I  saw  Mrs.  Jay  Fox 
depart  in  the  company  of  two  other  women  and 
proceed  to  the  Bodega  Hotel.  I  did  not  see  Fox. 
Neither  did  I  see  anyone  answering  the  description 
of  Caplan  depart  from  the  hall. 
"At  1 1 :45  p.  m.  I  discontinued." 

"Assistant  Manager  C.  J.  S.  reports: 
"Tacoma,  Wash.,  Wednesday,  Nov.  16th,  1910. 
"To-day  at  7  :oo  a.  m.,  in  company  with  Inves- 


74  THE    MASKED   WAR 

tigator  H.  J.  L.,  I  resumed  watch  on  Jay  Fox's 
residence  and  our  information  was  that  Mrs.  M., 
who  visited  him  on  yesterday,  would  go  on  the 
boat  to  Tacoma  this  morning  and  might  possibly 
carry  the  decoy  letter.  Fox  met  Mrs.  M.  and  ac- 
companied her  to  the  boat.  She  departed  on  same. 
I  followed  her.  On  the  boat  she  met  Heyman, 
the  barber,  who  is  a  close  friend  of  Fox's.  En  route, 
the  boat  was  boarded  at  Lake  Bay  by  Principal 
W.  J.  B.  I  discussed  matters  with  him  and  it  was 
decided  to  keep   Heyman  also  under  surveillance. 

"On  arrival  in  Tacoma,  Heyman  and  Mrs.  M. 
departed  from  the  boat  together  and  proceeded  to 
Heyman's  rooms,  15th  and  Yakima  Ave.  They 
entered  at  1 1 125  a.  m.  and  departed  at  12  140  p.  m. 
and  proceeded  to  the  corner  of  15th  and  Pacific 
Ave.,  where  they  parted.  Mrs.  M.  was  followed 
by  Principal  W.  J.  B.  and  I  kept  Heyman  under 
surveillance.  He  entered  the  Del  Monte  Barber 
Shop,  where  he  is  employed,  at  15th  and  Pacific 
Ave. 

"At  1  :45  p.  m.  he  departed,  proceeding  to 
Andrew's  jewelry  store,  10th  and  Pacific  Ave.,  went 
to  the  repair  department,  conversed  with  the  clerk 
a  few  minutes  and  then  returned  to  the  Del  Monte 
Barber  Shop,  remaining  until  7  :oo  p.  m. 

"He  then  proceeded  to  his  rooms,  15th  and 
Yakima  Ave. 

"At  5  :45  p.  m.  I  was  joined  by  Principal  W.  J. 
B.,  who  assisted  me  in  keeping  Heyman  under  sur- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  75 

veillance.     At  no  time  did  Heyman  visit  any  mail 
boxes. 

"As  it  was  evident  that  he  had  received  no  letters 
from  Jay  Fox  to  mail,  I  discontinued  at  9  :oo  p.  m." 

"Investigator  H.  J.  L.  reports: 

"Home  Colony,  Wash.,  Nov.  5th,  19 10. 

"This  morning  at  7  145  a.  m.,  while  standing  on 
the  porch  of  Mrs. 's  home,  Assistant  Mana- 
ger C.  J.  S.  and  I  noticed  Jay  Fox  going  toward 
the  boat  landing  with  several  letters.  We  followed 
him,  and  upon  his  arrival  he  handed  them  to  a  young 
girl  about  14  years  of  age.  Fox  then  left  and  a  few 
minutes  later,  and  prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  boat, 
this  girl  handed  them  to  a  lady  evidently  her 
mother,  and  she  in  turn  put  them  in  a  small  valise 
she  carried.  The  mother  and  girl,  upon  arrival 
of  the  boat,  boarded  same.  Assistant  Manager  C. 
J.  S.  accompanied  them  for  the  purpose  of  covering 
the  mail.  After  the  departure  of  the  boat,  I  re- 
turned into  the  Hills  and  succeeded  in  getting 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Blank,  whose  home  is  not  far 
from  the  Fox  home  (an  excellent  place  to  cover 
from).  I  also  met  Mr.  A.,  who  has  about  the 
best  place  here.  I  ascertained  from  my  landlady 
that  A.  is  the  same  class  of  a  man  as  Fox — 
an  Anarchist.  Fox  is  a  free  lover;  the  woman  with 
him  is  a  Jewess.  They  have  two  children — a  girl 
about  14  and  a  boy  about  12  years.  The  children 
I  became  acquainted  with  at  my  boarding  house. 


76  THE   MASKED   WAR 

They  were   soliciting  subscriptions   for  the   paper 
edited  by  their  father. 

"I  purchased  a  copy.  Fox  took  part  in  the  Hay- 
market  Riot  in  Chicago.  I  have  also  received  in- 
formation that  this  paper  is  printed  in  the  town 
here,  in  what  is  known  as  the  Old  Colony  Hall. 
This  is  a  large  two  story  frame  building  about  a 
half  mile  from  the  Fox  house.  The  windows  are 
all  boarded  up.  I  understand  they  have  four  rooms 
there.  They  are  using  an  old  style  Washington 
hand  press  and  three  or  four  men  are  working  in 
there.  We  are  getting  acquainted  very  nicely,  going 
along  very  slowly  and  feeling  our  way  and  the  cover 
is  first  class.  We  have  created  no  suspicion.  To- 
morrow we  will  see  what  we  can  learn  as  to  condi- 
tions around  the  building  where  the  print  shop  is. 
I  have  become  acquainted  with  the  three  store 
keepers,  all  friendly  and  will  talk." 


CHAPTER  XII 

DETECTIVES  IN  THE  RED  COLONY 

So  far  none  of  my  operatives  had  aroused  any 
suspicion.  They  had  made  good  in  "covering" 
themselves  in  their  work.  I,  myself,  was  able  to 
go  in  and  out  of  the  colony  at  times  without  creating 
suspicion.  My  operatives  reported  to  me  daily  and 
I  show  their  reports. 

"H.  J.  L.  reports: 
"Home  Colony,  via  Tacoma,  November  7th,  19 10. 

"I  resumed  investigation  here  this  morning  at  7  :oo 
a.  m.  At  8  :oo  a.  m.  Mr.  'Blank'  departed  on  the 
steamer  for  Tacoma.  I  introduced  Assistant  Man- 
ager C.  J.  S.  to  him  and  C.  J.  S.  accompanied  him 
to  Tacoma.  The  latter  lives  near  the  Jay  Fox 
residence  and  should  be  in  possession  of  some  infor- 
mation. The  rest  of  the  morning  up  to  12  :oo  noon, 
I  walked  through  the  Colony  getting  acquainted 
with  the  inhabitants.  I  ascertained  that  Emma 
Goldman  was  here,  but  how  lately  I  could  not  learn, 
I  believe,  however,  very  recently.  She  is  a  great 
friend  of  the  mother  of  'my  landlady.'  Her  par- 
ents and  grandfather,  so  she  states,  are  Anarchists, 

77 


78  THE    MASKED   WAR 

Socialists,   free   lovers   and   all   that  goes  with  it. 
Elbert  Hubbard  was  also  here. 

"This  evening,  there  arrived  on  the  boat,  a  Mr. 
D.,  who  was  decorated  with  a  Western  Federation 
of  Miners'  button,  an  Industrial  Worker  of  the 
World  button,  also  a  Socialist  button.  He  an- 
nounced himself  as  an  Anarchist  and  all  that  goes 
with  it.  He  claims  to  be  from  Siskiyou  County, 
California,  and  is  lecturing  around  the  country  on 
Socialism,  the  down-trodden  workingman, — 'God's 
patient  poor,'  etc.  He  is  very  inquisitive.  He 
brought  his  trunk  with  him;  states  that  he  may 
stay  a  day,  or  maybe  a  month.  He  is  one  of  the 
Emma  Goldman  type. 

"Between  12:00  and  1:00  to-day,  I  covered  the 
Fox  printing  shop  from  the  brush;  saw  him  leave 
there  and  go  to  his  home  for  dinner  and  also  re- 
turn. His  print  shop  is  in  the  same  building  as  the 
public  school.  The  two  school  teachers  are  Mr. 
Allen  and  his  wife;  Allen  is  an  Anarchist  and,  as 
I  mentioned  in  a  previous  report,  is  a  great  friend 

of  Fox. 

"This  afternoon,  I  went  into  the  hills  and  fol- 
lowed a  course  that  led  me  into  several  abandoned 
houses  or  cabins.  Upon  my  return,  I  remained 
about  the  stores,  as  this  seems  to  be  trading  day. 
At  5  :oo  p.  m.  I  received  word  to  come  to  Lake 
Bay  to  see  Principal  W.  J.  B.  Assistant  Manager 
C.  J.  S.  returned  from  Tacoma  and  after  supper 
we  walked  to  Lake  Bay,  met  Principal  W.  J.  B., 


THE    MASKED    WAR  79 

received  additional  instructions,  returned  to  Home 
Colony  and  discontinued  at  9  130  p.  m. 

"Our  actions  are  creating  no  suspicion  here;  we 
have  seen  most  of  the  residents  here  and  know  them 
by  sight." 

My  visits  to  the  Colony  of  Anarchists  became 
more  frequent.  I  was  always  hopeful  of  getting 
Caplan.  Dressed  in  hunting  costume,  I  tramped 
in  and  around  the  Colony,  conferred  with  my  oper- 
atives and  kept  after  the  man  I  wanted  most.  It 
was  while  engaged  in  this  work  that  I  got  from  my 
son,  Raymond  J.  Burns,  manager  of  my  Chicago 
office,  that  Mayor  Alexander  at  Los  Angeles  had 
been  stopped  from  paying  me  any  more  money 
until  I  had  obtained  results.  I  had  no  intention  of 
giving  away  my  case  to  anyone  and  Mayor  Alex- 
ander understood  that  thoroughly.  He  had  prom- 
ised me  that  he  would  not  give  any  reports  of  mine 
to  anyone. 

The  Mayor  was  asked  to  submit  my  reports,  and 
when  he  refused  a  Grand  Jury  was  called.  Mr. 
Rodgers  was  appointed  an  Assistant  District  Attor- 
ney. The  Mayor  was  subpoenaed  before  the  Grand 
Jury  and  was  there  urged  to  submit  my  reports. 
On  the  failure  to  secure  them  from  him,  the  mana- 
ger of  my  Los  Angeles  office  was  called  before  the 
Grand  Jury,  and  he  too  was  unable  to  produce 
them;  and  that  night  my  Los  Angeles  office  was 
broken  into,  and  the  filing-cases  and  desks  rifled. 


80  THE   MASKED   WAR 

But  their  search  was  fruitless,  as  all  the  reports  in 
this  case  were  forwarded  to  my  son,  Raymond  J. 
Burns,  at  Chicago,  and  he,  in  turn,  placed  them  in 
a  safe  deposit  vault  in  the  First  National  Bank. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


BURNS   IN   ANARCHISTS'    NEST 


These  annoyances  were  big  annoyances  and  they 
hampered  me  somewhat  in  my  work,  but  as  long  as 
there  was  a  chance  to  get  Caplan  in  Home  Colony 
or  break  out  a  trail  to  him  there  I  was  going  to 
stick.  I  financed  myself — and  borrowed  money  to 
pull  through  with  the  job.  We  kept  at  the  job  as 
the  following  reports  in  the  files  of  my  agency  will 
show. 

"H.  J.  L.  reports: 

"Home  Colony,  via  Tacoma,  Wash., 
"Tuesday,  November  5th,  19 10. 
"I  resumed  investigation  here  to-day  at  7  :oo  a. 
m.  covering  the  outgoing  boat  to  Tacoma  to  ascer- 
tain  whether   Fox   sent   out  any  mail.     Assistant 
Manager  C.  J.  S.  left  for  Tacoma  on  the  boat.    My 
informant  has  given  me  the  following  information: 
"Fox  worked  in  San  Francisco  for  some  time  up 
to  within  two  months  ago,  when  he  returned  here 
and  made  arrangements  to  start  up  his  paper,  The 
Agitator.     For  a  long  time  past,  Fox  has  had  the 
residents  here  subscribing  money  for  this  paper  and 

81 


82  THE    MASKED    WAR 

has  given  them  nothing  in  return.  The  money  so 
subscribed,  so  the  residents  here  claim,  has  gone 
to  'Esther.' 

"This  woman  has  lived  with  him  ten  years.  She 
was  formerly  the  wife  of  a  wealthy  New  York 
dentist.  The  boy  and  girl  who  are  here  now  are 
the  children  of  her  husband  in  New  York. 

"Fox  has  a  wife  and  children  living.  Whether 
Fox  followed  the  printing  trade  in  San  Francisco, 
I  was  unable  to  ascertain.  He  did  have  a  job  as 
watchman  at  the  Seattle  fair,  a  year  ago. 

"  'D,'  the  party  who  arrived  last  night,  visited 
Fox  to-day;  also  Mrs.  V.,  the  mother  of  our  land- 
lady. D.  is  a  'faker.'  He  came  here  looking  for 
the  'free  love'  end  of  it.  I  am  satisfied  of  that. 
He  spent  but  little  time  with  Fox,  remaining  all  day 
and  evening  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  V.  He  is  going 
to  leave  in  the  morning,  and  Assistant  Manager  C. 
J.  S.  will  take  him  into  Tacoma. 

"I  am  going  to  try  and  ascertain  where  Fox  lived 
in  San  Francisco.  In  a  previous  report,  I  mentioned 
that  Fox  was  in  the  Haymarket  Riots  in  Chicago. 

"The  lady  who  handled  the  letters  for  Fox  on 
the  steamer  Monday  was  Mrs.  B.,  an  English- 
woman, who  lives  on  a  remittance  and  also  writes 
for  the  magazines.  She  has  a  husband  here.  They 
are  divorced.  She  rents  a  house  here,  and  stays 
two  or  three  days  out  of  the  week  here,  and  while 
here,  she  and  others  of  the  'free  love'  faith  hold  a 
drunken  carnival. 


THE    MASKED    WAR  83 

"The  Jewish  tailor,  F.,  is  pretty  sore  at  the  Fox 
family  and  might  have  some  information." 

"H.  J.  L.  reports: 

"Home  Colony,  via  Tacoma,  Wash., 
"Saturday,   November   12th,    19 10. 

"I  resumed  operations  here  at  6:30  a.  m.  and 
joined  Principal  W.  J.  B.  at  7  130  a.  m.  at  Lake 
Bay,  remained  with  him  until  9  :oo  a.  m.  and  re- 
joined him  at  10:15  a-  m-  at  tne  home  of  his  in- 
formant at  Home  Colony.  Principal  W.  J.  B., 
informant  and  I  then  went  to  an  abandoned  cabin 
a  short  distance  from  the  house.  Informant  told 
Principal  W.  J.  B.  that  in  the  latter  part  of  either 
July  or  August,  19 10,  he  had  a  conversation  with 
one  E.,  the  manager  of  the  Home  Grocery  Com- 
pany here.  E.  is  a  great  friend  of  Jay  Fox.  E. 
told  informant  that  he  had  something  on  his  mind 
and  was  going  to  tell  him  his  secret.  Informant 
showed  no  anxiety  in  the  matter  and  consequently 
E.  only  told  part  of  the  secret  which  in  effect  was 
as  follows: 

"That  he  (E.)  feared  for  the  safety  of  Fox; 
that  Fox  was  going  in  with  some  fellows  on  a  dan- 
gerous job,  and  the  consequence  would  be  that  Fox 
would  get  caught  and  be  made  to  suffer,  while  the 
others  would  go  free.  Fox,  at  this  time,  was  in  a 
bad  way  financially,  being  so  hard  pressed  for  cash 
that  he  had  to  have  E.  extend  credit  to  him  for  a 
sack  of  flour.     In  the  latter  part  of  August  a  Jew 


84  THE   MASKED   WAR 

came  to  visit  Fox.  He  stayed  several  days  and 
was  with  Fox  constantly.  He  stayed  so  close  to 
him  that  E.  had  no  chance  at  all  to  talk  with  him. 
He  told  informant  he  wanted  to  talk  with  Fox  and 
see  if  he  could  not  persuade  him  to  keep  out  of 
anything  that  would  lead  him  into  trouble.  About 
September  ist,  the  Jew  and  Fox  left  for  San  Fran- 
cisco. Fox's  wife  left  shortly  before  this.  Was 
supposed  to  go  to  Portland.  On  October  the  6th, 
Fox  returned  alone  from  San  Francisco.  He  was 
met  on  the  steamer  by  informant.  Informant  re- 
ports the  condition  of  Fox  as  follows :  Very  much 
worried;  eyes  blood-shot;  looked  as  though  he  had 
been  under  a  great  strain.  About  two  weeks  after 
he  returned,  his  wife  appeared  at  Home  Colony. 

"From  that  part  of  the  'secret'  that  E.  told  in- 
formant, E.  is  in  possession  of  valuable  information. 
No  doubt  Fox  made  a  confidant  of  him  and  looked 
to  him  for  advice.  E.  states  he  advised  him  to 
keep  out  of  it.  Possibly,  Fox  heeded  that  advice 
for  the  time  being,  but  when  the  mysterious  Jew 
appeared,  Fox,  three  or  four  days  after,  accom- 
panied him  to  San  Francisco.  He  had  money  shortly 
after  he  bought  the  flour  on  credit.  He  paid  his 
bill  and  Mrs.  Fox  had  money  to  go  to  Portland  on. 
On  last  Saturday,  the  first  issue  of  his  paper,  The 
Agitator,  came  out.  He  has  one  man  working  for 
him. 

"Since  the  dynamiting  at  Los  Angeles,  informant 
at  different  times  has  attempted  to  draw  E.  out  on 


THE    MASKED    WAR  85 

the  matter  and  to  learn  the  secret  that  he  at  one 
time  wanted  to  tell  him.  E.  has  'shut  up  com- 
pletely' and  informant  can  learn  nothing  from  him. 
Principal  W.  J.  B.  advised  informant  how  to 
handle  E.  in  the  future.  E.  has  always  been  a  rank 
Anarchist  until  lately.  He  is  not  as  strong  as 
formerly.  Principal  W.  J.  B.  gave  informant  and 
myself  instructions  as  to  how  to  handle  the  situation 
in  the  future.     He  left  us  at  1 1 145  a.  m. 

"I  then  had  a  further  conference  with  informant, 
went  to  dinner  and  then  met  him  at  E.'s  store.  In- 
formant and  I  discussed  the  surveying  of  some  land 
in  order  to  throw  off  any  suspicions  on  the  part  of  E. 

"Mrs.  Fox  is  supposed  to  go  to  Seattle  this  trip 
to  have  an  operation  performed  upon  her  daughter's 
throat. 

"As  stated  before,  there  is  no  question  but  what 
E.  has  the  confidence  of  Fox  and  knows  the  details 
of  the  Los  Angeles  crime.  He  tried  to  keep  Fox 
from  mixing  in  it,  but  when  Fox  did  get  mixed  into 
it,  he  used  every  precaution  to  shield  him. 

"This  evening  at  7  :oo  p.  m.  I  went  to  Lake  Bay 
and  joined  Principal  W.  J.  B.  and  Assistant  Mana- 
ger C.  J.  S.  We  discussed  matters  fully  and  dis- 
continued at  1 1 130  p.  m." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

WITH    NO    LAW   AND    NO    MORALS 

"H.  J.  L.  reports: 

"Home  Colony,  via  Tacoma,  Washington, 

"Sunday,   November    15th,    19 10. 

"I  left  Lake  Bay  at  9:00  a.  m.  with  Assistant 
Manager  C.  J.  S.,  consulting  with  Principal  W.  J. 
B.  before  leaving.  Fox  returned  from  Tacoma  last 
night  alone.  Did  not  get  to  see  him  at  all  to-day, 
but  am  satisfied  from  investigation  made  by  Assist- 
ant Manager  C.  J.  S.  and  myself  he  was  at  his 
home.  We  covered  outgoing  Tacoma-bound 
steamer,  but  he  sent  no  mail  out.  The  following 
are  the  fixed  and  definite  dates  as  regards  the  move- 
ments of  Fox  prior  to  his  departure  for  San  Fran- 
cisco, September  2nd,  19 10. 

"Fox  at  E.'s  house  all  day,  September  3rd,  1910. 
E.  sent  for  informant.  This  is  the  time  he  stated 
he  had  a  secret  he  wanted  to  tell  (see  my  report 
of  November  12th,  1910)  ;  September  4th,  the  Jew 
(see  report  of  November  12th,  19 10)  and  Fox 
left  for  San  Francisco;  October  6th,  19 10,  Fox  re- 
turned from  San  Francisco;  seen  on  steamer  plying 
between  Tacoma  and  Home  Colony  by  informant. 
Description  of  one  Joe  Edelson,  who  came  to  the 

86 


THE    MASKED    WAR  87 

'Home'  in  the  spring  of  19 10,  and  occupied  a  cabin 
near  the  home  of  Fox. 

"Five  feet  8  inches,  35  or  36  years,  very  dark 
complexion,  black  hair,  black  eyes,  eyes  beady;  130 
to  135  pounds,  Jewish  nationality. 

"Left  'Home'  in  the  early  part  of  June,  19 10, 
and  went  to  Portland;  remained  there  during  the 
Rose  Carnival,  then  returned  here,  remained  a  short 
time  and  left  for  Los  Angeles,  where  he  is  now, 
living  with  some  woman.  Edelson  is  a  great  friend 
of  Fox  and  is  an  Anarchist. 

"To-day  being  Sunday,  we  loitered  around  the 
stores,  as  here  it  is  where  most  of  the  residents 
congregate." 


«i 


'H.  J.  L.  reports: 

"Home  Colony,  via  Tacoma,  Washington, 

"Monday,  November   14th,   1910. 

"I  resumed  investigation  here  at  7  :oo  a.  m.  As- 
sistant Manager  C.  J.  S.  went  to  Lake  Bay,  and  I 
remained  here  to  cover  the  8  :oo  a.  m.  Tacoma- 
bound  steamer  to  see  if  Fox  sent  out  any  mail  by 
any  of  the  passengers.  He  did  not,  and  I  rode 
the  steamer  as  far  as  Lake  Bay.  Upon  reaching 
there,  I  met  Assistant  Manager  C.  J.  S.  and  he 
stated  that  he  was  going  to  Tacoma  with  Principal 
W.  J.  B. 

"I  then  returned  to  Home  Colony,  located  Jay 
Fox  in  his  home  and  then  saw  informant  and  re- 
mained with  him  until  1 1 145  a.  m. 


88  THE    MASKED    WAR 

"At  i  :oo  p.  m.  I  returned  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
Fox  home  and  remained  in  the  timber  until  4:00  p. 
m.  when  I  left  for  Lake  Bay. 

"There  is  a  woman  living  in  San  Francisco,  Cal., 

who  formerly  lived  here.     Her  name  is  , 

and  her  address  .     Her  age  is  about  30, 

dark,  small  in  build;  a  Jewess.  She  is  living  with 
an  Anarchist  named  .  Both  are  rank  An- 
archists and  very  friendly  to  the  Fox  family.  Pos- 
sibly M.,  a  cousin  of  the  woman,  is  living  with  them. 
These  people  left  here  the  latter  part  of  July,  19 10, 
for  San  Francisco.  If  Fox  was  in  San  Francisco  he 
most  likely  visited  them." 

Here  my  operative  gave  a  complete  list  of  the 
most  violent  of  the  Anarchists  in  the  Colony.  It  is 
necessary  for  me  to  keep  this  information  secret. 
Some  of  the  immoralities  of  these  people,  recounted 
in  the  reports  of  my  men,  are  not  printed  for 
decency's  sake. 

But  here  is  one  fact  in  this  operative's  report 
that  may  be  worth  while  printing: 

"John  B.  is  the  butcher  here.  He  has  very  strong 
Anarchistic  views.  At  the  time  President  McKinley 
was  shot,  B.  was  a  resident  of  a  small  town  near 
Seattle.  When  the  news  of  the  assassination 
reached  the  town,  B.  was  very  much  elated  and  de- 
clared himself.  The  consequences  were  that  a  rope 
was  put  around  his  neck  and  he  escaped  lynching 


THE    MASKED   WAR  89 

by  a  very  narrow  margin.  He  says:  'That  was 
the  way  I  was  treated  in  what  they  call  a  "free 
country."  '  " 

How  close  we  were  in  the  heart  of  this  Colony 
of  law-hating  people  will  be  shown  in  this  report, 
the  last  I  will  include  in  this  Dhase  of  my  chronicles. 

"H.  J.  L.  reports: 

"Home  Colony,  via  Tacoma,  Wash., 
"Tuesday,  November  15th,  19 10. 

"I  resumed  investigation  at  6 :3c)  a.  m.  At  7  130 
a.  m.  I  went  to  informant's  house  and  concealed 
myself  in  the  loft  of  the  stable  where  I  had  an 
excellent  opportunity  to  observe  the  Fox  home  and 
the  movements  of  Fox.  Informant  remained  with 
me  all  day  and  until  I  discontinued  for  supper. 
After  supper  we  took  up  separate  watches  in  the 
timber  surrounding  the  Fox  home.  Fox  is  building 
a  small  addition  to  his  home  and  is  putting  in  a  new 
floor.  He  did  not  leave  the  house  at  all  except  to 
go  to  the  mail  box  for  his  mail. 

"7  =30  a.  m. — I  took  up  watch  in  stable  loft. 

"9  :oo  a.  m. — Mail  carrier  arrived — left  mail  in 
box. 

"9:15  a.m. — A.  arrived  at  Fox's  home. 

"9:50  a.m. — Mrs.    arrived    at    Fox's 

home. 

"10:05  a.  m. — Mrs. left  Fox's  home. 

"10:40  a.  m. — Fox  came  to  mail  box,  then  started 


90  THE    MASKED    WAR 

in  a  hurry  toward  the  home.     Informant 

trailed  him  and  reported  that  Fox  walked  around 
the  block,  hurriedly  opened  one  of  the  letters, 
looked  at  it  for  a  few  seconds  and  then  returned  to 
his  home. 

"10:45   a-  m- — Mrs.  arrived   at   Fox's 

home. 

"11  :05  a.  m. — Mrs.  left  Fox's  home. 

"11:45   a.  m. ,  a  neighbor,   arrived  at 

Fox's  home. 

"1  :oo    p.    m. — Mrs.    arrived    at    Fox's 

home. 

"1  :oo  p.  m. — A.  came  out  of  Fox's  home  to  road, 
returned  to  house  immediately. 

"1  :io  p.  m. — A.  left  Fox  home  with  small  pack- 
age under  his  arm;  started  on  road  toward  Lake 
Bay. 

"1  :i2  p.  m. — Mrs. left  Fox  home. 

"1:35  p.  m. — B.  left  Fox  home. 

'4:30  p.  m. — Mrs. arrived  at  Fox  home. 

'4:35  p.  m. — Mrs. left  Fox  home. 

"5:30  p.  m. — Man,  5  feet  8  inches,  155  pounds, 
arrived  with  two  packages.  It  was  getting  dark 
and  neither  informant  nor  I  could  identify  him  as 
being  anyone  living  in  the  Colony.  At  5  130  p.  m. 
this  party  left. 

"At  6:30  p.  m.  I  joined  informant  again,  re- 
mained with  him  in  timber  until  7  :30  p.  m.  Assist- 
ant Manager  C.  J.  S.  joined  me  and  we  watched 
Fox's  home  until   1 1  130  p.  m.      I   discontinued  at 


11 

4 

u 


THE    MASKED    WAR  91 

midnight.     Fox  remained  in  house;  no  one  called. 

"After  arrival  of  mail,  Fox  did  not  deposit  any 
outgoing  mail  in  letter  box;  neither  did  he  give  any 
to  carrier  who  passed  his  house  at  1 1 130  a.  m.    As 

will  be  noted,   Mrs.  called  four  times.     I 

understand  she  is  going  to  Tacoma  in  the  morning. 

Mrs.  has  a  home  here.     Her  husband  is 

not  here,  but  sends  her  a  check  every  month  to  the 
amount  of  $50.00. 

'After  A.  left  at  1  :io  p.  m.  Fox  practically  dis- 
continued his  carpenter  work  and  all  was  quiet 
around  the  house.  I  understand  that  within  the  last 
week  the  two  Fox  children  changed  a  twenty  dollar 
gold  piece  (that  is,  each  child  had  one)  at  the 
Colony  store.  Regarding  E.  mentioned  in  former 
reports,  he  and  the  tailor  of  Tacoma  were  very 
friendly.  The  tailor  visited  him  here.  E.  was  a 
peddler  of  notions,  women's  goods,  etc.  He  was  a 
loud-mouthed  Jew  and  a  strong  Anarchist.  My 
informant  tells  me,  he  answers  the  description  of 
Caplan,  as  to  height,  color  and  age." 

We  trailed  Anarchist  E.,  but  he  was  not  the  man 
I  wanted. 


CHAPTER  XV 

A   $350   TAXICAB    RIDE 

Despite  these  interesting  adventures  in  the  An- 
archist City  we  did  not  get  close  enough  to  Caplan 
or  Schmidt  to  either  rope  them  or  arrest  them.  To 
rope  a  man  is  to  gain  his  full  confidence  and  that 
is  even  better  than  an  arrest,  as  will  appear  later 
in  the  reports  of  the  operatives  who  closed  in  on 
Bryce  and  McGraw  in  another  part  of  the  country. 

We  found  Mrs.  Caplan  and,  up  to  the  very  mo- 
ment of  the  McNamara  trial,  when  the  two  defen- 
dants pleaded  guilty,  we  had  strong  hopes  of 
getting  her  husband.  My  operatives  relieved  me  of 
this  puzzling  end  of  the  case  as  my  attention  was 
needed  in  a  general  direction  of  the  investigation  as 
clues  were  dug  out  and  the  trail  to  the  guilty  men 
became  wider  and  straighter. 

Even  after  the  close  of  the  trial  two  investigators 
followed  two  men  answering  the  descriptions  of 
Caplan  and  Schmidt  through  barren  and  remote 
parts  of  the  west,  followed  them  on  foot,  on  horse- 
back and  raced  after  them  in  automobiles  finally  to 
round  them  up  and  to  find  that  they  were  not  the 
right  men. 

As  for  Mrs.  Caplan,  that  lady  was  destined  to 

92 


THE    MASKED   WAR  93 

enjoy  a  taxicab  ride  the  like  of  which  few  Anarchist 
ladies  have  ever  dreamed  of  enjoying,  but  the 
ride  was  not  at  the  expense  of  my  agency.  Mr. 
Olaf  Tveitmore,  secretary  of  the  California  State 
Building  Trades  Council,  sometimes  known  among 
labor  people  on  the  Coast  as  "The  Old  Man,"  later 
indicted  and  convicted  for  conspiracy,  had  a  hand 
in  providing  this  record  taxi  trip.  The  bill  for 
Mrs.  Caplan's  trip  was  $350,  as  much  as  a  laborer 
makes  in  a  year,  and  the  misguided  union  working- 
man  who  paid  his  dues  regularly  footed  the  bill,  of 
course. 

Mrs.  Caplan  was  under  subpoena  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. The  service  of  the  subpoena  on  the  woman 
made  agents  for  the  McNamara  defense  believe  that 
the  best  thing  that  could  happen  would  be  her  dis- 
appearance. Elaborate  plans  were  laid  and  one 
day  in  August,  191 1,  she  stepped  into  a  machine 
and  was  gone.  She  was  taken  to  San  Jose  first  and 
then  on  to  Reno,  where  she  was  piled  aboard  a 
Chicago  express  without  bag  or  baggage.  The 
machine  turned  about  and  crossed  the  country  again 
to  San  Francisco  and  its  garage.  It  had  required 
two  days  goin^  to  Reno  and  three  days  returning. 
A  good  part  of  a  thousand  dollars  went  for  this  little 
joy  ride  of  an  Anarchist  lady  if  the  railroad  fare 
from  Reno  to  Chicago  and  incidentals  are  included. 
She  was  not  really  needed  by  the  prosecution.  Her 
husband  was  the  one  we  were  after.  It  was  money 
thrown  away. 


94  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Of  course  our  investigators  learned  every  detail 
of  this  spiriting  away  of  the  witness  and,  incident- 
ally, we  got  hold  of  the  chauffeur  and  secured  a 
statement  from  him.  We  learned  a  lot  about  taxi 
bills,  money  provided  by  honest  union  men  who 
were  being  bled  by  the  conspirators.  We  learned 
that  "The  Old  Man,"  Tveitmore,  who  was  charged 
with  directing  the  explosions  on  the  Pacific  Coast, 
seldom  walked.  He  always  used  a  taxi  and  a  cer- 
tain special  taxi  and  a  certain  chauffeur.  This  same 
chauffeur  also  saved  Mr.  Sam  Gompers  from  ever 
stretching  his  legs  and  was  at  the  beck  and  call  of 
Clarence  Darrow,  Job  Harriman,  Harrington, 
Rappaport  and  the  rest  of  the  crowd  that  assembled 
around  Tveitmore  in  San  Francisco  prior  to  the 
trial.  Everybody  used  a  taxi  except  the  man  on 
the  job  with  a  dinner  pail.  Yet  the  man  on  the 
job  paid  the  bills. 

Chicago,  to  which  city  Mrs.  Caplan  made  her 
flight,  seems  to  be  a  good  hiding  place  for  An- 
archists when  they  stir  about  the  country  from  their 
home  places.  Schmidt  used  it  as  a  good  point  for 
receiving  information  that  would  guide  him  in 
dodging  us  and,  perhaps,  for  receiving  necessary 
funds.  We  uncovered  his  mail  agent,  a  young  man 
we  shadowed  for  many  days.  We  had  our  best 
shadow  assigned  to  this  young  man,  Malcolm  Mc- 
Laren, an  operative  who  figures  largely  later  in  this 
chronicle.  How  cautious  Anarchists  are  will  be 
shown  by  the  manner  in  which  Schmidt's  mail  was 


THE    MASKED    WAR  95 

handled.  Schmidt's  agent  asked  at  the  Chicago 
general  delivery  office  every  night  for  mail  for 
M.  A.  Schmidt.  The  round-about  course  he  would 
take  in  doing  this  service  for  the  Anarchist  would 
have  done  credit  to  a  fox.  To  obey  my  standing 
instructions  in  shadowing,  McLaren  must  have  had 
his  patience  tried  sorely  at  times,  for  one  of  the  big 
reasons  for  the  successful  work  of  my  agency  is  that 
the  moment  a  subject  shows  that  he  knows  that  he 
is  being  followed  the  shadow  must  draw  off.  Never 
mind  how  promising  may  be  the  outlook,  my  men 
are  ordered  to  sacrifice  all  the  good  chances  rather 
than  let  the  subject  know  that  a  shadow  is  behind 
him.  Later  the  subject  will  be  taken  up  again  by 
another  man  and  the  work  started  all  over. 

McLaren  was  watching  this  subject's  house  on 
the  afternoon  of  December  28,  19 10,  when  the  sub- 
ject came  out  at  four  o'clock.  His  report  says  that 
Schmidt's  agent  proceeded  east  on  Eastwood  Ave- 
nue, Chicago,  to  the  Robey  Street  elevated  station. 
He  boarded  an  express  train  for  downtown  and  got 
off  at  State  and  Van  Buren  Streets.  He  entered 
Rothschild's  department  store  and  bought  a  key 
ring.  Then  he  popped  out  of  the  store  and  for 
three  minutes  stood  on  the  corner  looking  in  every 
direction.  Suddenly  he  turned  and  ascended  the 
elevated  stairs  to  the  sub-platform.  He  passed 
from  the  north  side  to  the  south  side  and  stood  there 
about  two  minutes,  watching.  He  then  returned  to 
the  street  and  hurried  to  Clark  Street  and  to  the 


96  THE    MASKED   WAR 

post  office.  He  went  to  the  employees'  entrance  but 
did  not  inquire  at  the  general  delivery  window  for 
Schmidt's  mail  that  day.  This  young  man,  inter- 
ested in  Anarchists,  seldom  left  his  home  by  the 
front  door  but  used  a  rear  entrance  and  gained  the 
main  highways  of  the  city  by  alleys.  It  would  re- 
quire a  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  believe  that  his 
life  was  a  pleasant  one  or  one  offering  him  much 
promise   in  manhood. 

During  this  unsuccessful  work  among  the  An- 
archists, my  operatives  were  exceedingly  busy  in 
Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco,  Chicago,  Indianapolis 
and  Salt  Lake  City.  In  the  last  named  city  there 
was  a  gentleman  named  Munsey — Jack  Munsey — 
who  needed  attention.  He  was  the  business  agent 
or  walking  delegate  for  the  International  Bridge  and 
Structural  Iron  Workers'  Union.  We  had  reason 
to  believe  that  "J.  B.  Bryce"  would  get  in  touch 
with  him.  Munsey  had  been  known  by  another 
name  and  had  a  none  too  pretty  reputation.  Our 
operative  reported  that  his  wife  had  divorced  him 
and  that  he  was  loafing  about  Salt  Lake  City  with 
plenty  of  money  all  the  time  while  the  union  work- 
ers in  the  craft  were  kept  on  strike  and  were  so 
reduced  in  funds  that  they  got  down  to  borrowing 
small  change  from  each  other  to  tide  over  each 
day.  He  was  among  those  to  be  convicted  later  at 
Indianapolis. 

We  had  reason  to  believe  that  Munsey  would 
provide  a  cover  for  Bryce,  the  man  who  had  actually 


THE    MASKED    WAR  97 

set  off  the  dynamite  in  the  Los  Angeles  Times 
Building.  Our  operative  stuck  with  him  and  re- 
ported among  other  things  a  hold-up  proposition 
from  him  in  the  matter  of  getting  work;  if  there  was 
work  to  be  had  the  iron-worker  would  have  to  pay 
over  a  tidy  lump  sum  to  Munsey  before  swinging 
a  sledge  or  picking  up  a  piece  of  iron  on  the  job. 

We  got  some  helpful  information  there  and  then 
things  began  to  center  closely  around  headquarters 
in  Indianapolis.  I  learned  that  a  man  fitting  the 
description  of  McGraw  had  been  seen  talking  with 
J.  J.  McNamara.  I  finally  spotted  McGraw  and 
from  the  time  he  came  within  our  vision  he  was 
never  without  a  shadow  day  or  night.  He  it  was 
who  led  us  to  the  men  higher  up — the  two 
McNamaras  and  all  the  crew  back  of  them. 

McGraw  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Los 
Angeles  Times  explosion,  but  he  had  done  the  work 
in  Peoria  and  how  many  other  places  we  did  not 
know  at  that  time.  Our  shadows  followed  him 
and  finally  he  went  to  his  home,  No.  414  South 
Sangamon  Street,  Chicago.  There  we  got  his  true 
identity.  He  was  Ortie  McManigal.  In  the  subse- 
quent account  of  the  trailing,  or  "tailing"  of  Mc- 
Manigal as  we  call  it,  he  is  referred  to  as  Subject 
No.  1. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

TRACKED   TO   WILDS    OF   WISCONSIN 

On  the  morning  of  November  5th,  19 10,  an  ex- 
pressman stopped  in  front  of  this  subject's  house, 
entered  the  alley  adjoining  and,  a  few  moments 
later,  returned  with  a  small  trunk.  Later  the  sub- 
ject appeared,  wearing  corduroy  trousers,  a  long 
black  ulster  and  a  soft  black  felt  hat.  He  carried 
three  shotguns  in  cases.  He  took  a  train  to  Keno- 
sha, Wis.,  and  in  that  city  went  to  the  house  of  G. 
M.  Sharp,  a  carpenter,  at  No.  620  Exchange  Street. 
He  left  his  guns  there  and  reappeared  with  Sharp. 
They  went  to  the  station  and  waited  for  the  3:55 
train  from  Chicago.  They  were  suspicious  of  every 
one,  but  did  not  uncover  the  shadows.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  train  a  passenger  alighted  and  greeted 
them.  This  passenger  went  under  the  name  of 
Sullivan.  He  is  referred  too  hereafter  as  Subject 
No.  2. 

Hunting  licenses  were  secured  for  Subjects  1  and 

2    and   several   others   making  up   a   party   of   six. 

Trunks  were  sent  to  the  station  and  one  of  our 

operatives  took  the  job  of  following  them  in  the 

event  that  the  shadow  following  the  subjects  became 

uncovered. 

98 


THE    MASKED   WAR  99 

The  hunters  boarded  a  train  for  Conover,  Wis., 
our  men  following  on  the  next  train  after  being  sure 
that  Conover  was  the  destination  of  the  party.  This 
was  only  a  month  and  nine  days  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Los  Angeles  Times  and  the  papers  were 
still  filled  with  the  aftermath  of  the  horror.  The 
dynamiters  were  going  into  seclusion  until  things 
simmered  down.  It  would  be  harder  to  find 
more  seclusion  than  in  the  wilds  of  Wisconsin  in 
winter. 

In  Conover  Operatives  B.  F.  D.  and  R.  J.  K. 
found  that  the  refugee  hunters  had  landed  there 
and  had  gone  into  camp  near  Pioneer  Lake,  two 
and  one  half  miles  east  of  the  road  leading  into 
Conover.  They  sought  a  distant  telegraph  station 
and  wired  Chicago,  making  a  report.  They  then 
bought  the  equipment  necessary  for  a  hunting  trip, 
fur  caps,  snowshoes,  guns,  etc.,  and  arranged  a  story 
between  them  to  the  effect  that  they  were  purchasers 
of  mining  machinery,  waiting  for  its  arrival  and 
killing  time  until  it  was  delivered.  They  had  a 
hunting  license,  bought  provisions  and  rented  a  cabin 
which  they  put  in  repair  so  that  they  could  stand 
the  weather  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  comfort. 

The  cabin  of  the  two  operatives  was  near  the 
Conover  station,  so  chosen  because  here  was  the 
general  store  to  which  hunters  would  make  their 
way  for  provisions  and  ammunition  and  to  mail  and 
receive  letters.  My  men  could  also  watch  all  arriv- 
ing and  departing  trains,  keep  track  of  all  people 


ioo  THE   MASKED   WAR 

leaving  or  coming  to  Conover  and  also  watch  the 
delivery  of  express  packages  and  mail. 

On  the  morning  of  November  12th,  19 10,  Sub- 
jects 1  and  2  came  into  Conover  from  their  camp. 
Subject  1 — McManigal — told  of  having  killed  a 
two  hundred  and  fifty  pound  buck,  bringing  him 
down  with  one  shot.  Subject  2 — known  as  Sullivan 
— was  dressed  in  a  dark  corduroy  suit,  high-laced 
hunting  boots  and  light  corduroy  cap.  Both  were 
armed  with  high  power  rifles  and  44  caliber  Colts. 
The  two  men  bought  some  bottled  beer  and  provi- 
sions and  then  hired  the  section  foreman  to  take 
them  on  a  hand  car  to  a  point  near  the  camp.  The 
assistant  of  the  foreman,  a  man  named  Tony,  went 
with  the  party  on  the  hand  car  and  on  the  return  of 
Tony  our  operatives  made  friends  with  him.  Our 
operatives  took  their  meals  at  a  house  near  the  sta- 
tion where  Tony  ate.  The  arrangement  was  that 
pending  closer  contact  with  the  men  they  were  tail- 
ing in  the  wilds  of  Wisconsin,  Tony  could  keep  our 
operatives  posted. 

The  arrival  of  some  baggage  at  the  station  put 
our  men  on  edge  a  week  later.  It  looked  as  if  the 
subjects  under  surveillance  were  preparing  to  de- 
part. The  Chicago  office  was  informed  and  men 
were  in  readiness  to  pick  up  the  subjects  wherever 
they  went.  The  office  received  a  telegram,  however, 
from  B.  F.  D.  reading: 

"Tell  B.  not  to  ship  machinery  to-day." 


THE    MASKED    WAR  101 

This  was  to  inform  us  that  the  subjects  were  not 
leaving. 

The  task  of  shadowing  men  in  camp  in  the  woods 
was  no  easy  one.  Our  operatives  scouted  the  roads 
about  the  camp  and  one  of  them  got  so  far  as  to 
aid  a  farmer  named  Reed  in  carting  McManigal's 
deer  to  the  station  and  unloading  it.  He  and  Reed 
made  friends  and  what  Reed  knew  of  the  life  in 
the  camp  of  the  dynamiters  my  men  got  out  of  him. 
Then,  again,  like  most  women,  Mrs.  Steinmetz,  who 
took  table  boarders  at  Conover,  generally  knew 
what  was  happening  for  miles  around.  Her  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Nicholson,  also  generally  heard  what  was 
being  talked  about.  They  informed  my  men  that 
the  camp  of  the  subjects  would  be  broken  in  about 
a  week  from  November  24th  and  that  all  would 
depart  save  Sullivan,  who  was  to  board  with  her 
until  the  close  of  the  hunting  season. 

On  November  26th,  Sullivan  reached  a  high 
point  in  a  spree  that  had  been  gradually  developing. 
He  came  into  Conover  with  a  rifle  and  a  pail  in 
either  hand  and  went  to  the  Steinmetz  house.  He 
was  pretty  drunk  and  my  men  did  not  hang  about 
too  close  for  fear  that  they  might  meet  him  and  he 
might  get  suspicious  of  them.  Operative  B.  re- 
mained about  our  cabin  to  watch  Sullivan  and  also 
the  trains  so  that  none  of  the  party  would  get  away 
without  it  being  known  to  them.  Sullivan's  de- 
bauch continued  at  the  Steinmetz  house  and  he  spent 
twenty  dollars  in  drinks  for  everyone  and  divided 


102  THE    MASKED    WAR 

five  dollars  among  the  children.  The  drunk  wound 
up  with  a  free  fight  between  Steinmetz,  Mrs. 
Steinmetz,  a  man  named  Sam  Smiley,  several  of  the 
children  and  such  friends  of  the  family  who  cared 
to  join  in.  Sullivan  was  so  far  gone  in  drink  that 
he  rolled  over  on  the  kitchen  floor  in  the  midst  of 
battle  and  slept  peacefully.  Later  he  was  put  to 
bed.  The  next  morning  our  men  went  to  the  Stein- 
metz house  for  breakfast  and  found  Sullivan  still 
drunk  and  asleep  in  a  chair  in  the  front  room.  The 
operatives  were  working  with  the  greatest  of  cau- 
tion. They  decided  that  some  of  the  others  from 
the  camp  would  come  for  the  drunken  man  and  so 
they  withdrew  to  the  woods,  spending  the  forenoon 
of  November  27th  in  watching  the  roads  leading 
from  the  station.  At  noon  they  returned  to  the 
house  but  Sullivan  was  still  there.  Operative  B. 
was  in  charge  of  our  cabin  while  the  other  two  men 
watched  the  roads.  In  the  afternoon  Subject  1 — 
McManigal — came  into  Conover  from  the  camp  to 
get  Sullivan.  Sullivan  brought  McManigal  to  our 
cabin  and  knocked  on  the  door,  demanding  to  see 
"Billy,"  Operative  B. 

The  roping  of  the  two  subjects  was  now  well 
under  way.  Instead  of  seeking  acquaintance  with 
them  they  were  hunting  us  up.  The  acquaintance- 
ship with  our  party  was  made.  Operatives  and 
subject  had  dinner  together  at  the  Steinmetz  house 
and  the  subjects  talked  of  their  camp  life  and  the 
game  they  had  killed.     They  said  they  would  break 


THE    MASKED    WAR  103 

camp  the  next  Friday  night,  come  to  Conover,  spend 
the  night  there  and  leave  for  Chicago  in  the  morn- 
ing. This  was  most  important  information  for  us 
for  we  then  had  time  to  prepare  to  pick  them  up 
when  they  left  the  train  on  the  way  back  to  civiliza- 
tion. 

One  detail  of  their  task  which  was  important  and 
which  might  have  been  overlooked  by  less  careful 
detectives  was  efficiently  attended  to  by  the  opera- 
tives at  Conover.  The  hunting  laws  there  provide 
that  when  deer  is  shipped  the  hunter  must  accom- 
pany it  to  its  destination.  The  killed  deer  were 
watched  almost  as  closely  as  the  hunters  themselves 
for  the  delivery  of  the  game  would  mean  another 
name  and  address,  a  friend  of  the  men  under  sur- 
veillance and  a  new  avenue  for  investigation. 

The  intended  breaking  up  of  the  camp  was  post- 
poned and  Manager  Raymond  J.  Burns  was  so 
notified  by  wire  in  his  Chicago  office.  This  gave 
our  operatives  greater  opportunity  for  roping  the 
subjects.  Subject  No.  2  was  by  no  means  through 
with  his  debauch.  He  would  get  totally  drunk,  try 
to  taper  off  and  then  find  himself  drunk  again. 
Everything  to  drink  in  the  Steinmetz  house  was 
used  up  and  Mrs.  Steinmetz  on  a  trip  to  Eagle 
River,  a  nearby  station,  bought  a  bottle  of  whiskey 
for  Sullivan  which  she  agreed  to  drop  him  when 
the  train  passed  Scott  station.  Sullivan  was  waiting 
for  it  and  Mrs.  Steinmetz  dropped  it  from  the  train. 
Somebody's  hand  was  unsteady  and  the  bottle  hit 


104  THE    MASKED    WAR 

the  ground  and  the  much  coveted  liquor  was  wasted. 

Sullivan,  while  in  the  Steinmetz  house,  played 
the  part  of  a  ladies'  man  when  he  was  sober  enough 
to  do  so.  He  scolded  Tessie  Steinmetz  for  only 
baking  two  loaves  of  bread  and  the  girl  was  resent- 
ful and  called  him  a  brute.  But  he  had  plenty  of 
money,  more  money  than  the  people  around  Con- 
over  were  used  to  seeing,  and  Mrs.  Steinmetz  tried 
to  keep  peace  in  the  family. 

It  was  soon  after  the  spat  with  the  girl  that  the 
general  ruction  came  off  in  the  Steinmetz  family. 
The  report  of  Operative  B.  on  this  social  affair  may 
prove  interesting.    It  is  very  brief  and  is  as  follows : 

"Operative  B.  reports: 

"Conover,  Wis.,  Nov.  26th,  19 10. 

"At  nine  in  the  morning  Sullivan  came  to  Con- 
over  alone,  carrying  a  .203  Savage  carbine  and  a 
small  pail.  He  went  to  the  post  office  and  store 
where  he  ordered  some  provisions.  He  then  went 
to  the  Steinmetz  residence  and  ordered  a  round  of 
drinks  and  by  ten  o'clock  was  very  drunk.  Rem- 
pert,  the  section  foreman,  had  promised  to  take  him 
back  to  his  camp.  At  2  130  p.  m.  one  of  the  parties 
from  the  house  and  I  returned  home  and  when 
within  one  hundred  yards  Alice  and  Marguerite 
Steinmetz,  15  and  16  years  of  age,  came  running 
out  of  the  house  crying  at  the  tops  of  their  voices. 
Everyone  in  the  store  and  post  office  ran  out  to  see 
what  was  the  matter.     The  girls  ran  for  me  and 


THE   MASKED   WAR  105 

told  me  that  everybody  in  the  house  was  fighting 
and  that  Sullivan  had  drawn  his  revolver.  I  ran 
into  the  house,  entering  through  the  sitting-room, 
as  I  knew  they  were  in  the  kitchen.  I  remained  in 
the  dining-room  and  looked  through  the  window  into 
the  kitchen  and  saw  Mrs.  Steinmetz  receive  a  blow 
in  the  jaw  from  Sullivan  as  she  was  holding  her 
husband.  Sullivan  also  punched  him  in  the  jaw 
and  ear,  cutting  both  places.  Sullivan  was  very 
drunk.  He  then  rolled  over  on  the  floor  for  a  nap. 
At  4:30  the  section  foreman  pulled  out  the  hand 
car  to  take  Sullivan  back  to  his  camp.  He  got 
him  to  the  station  but  he  fell  forward  on  his  face, 
making  his  nose  bleed.  He  went  back  to  the  Stein- 
metz house.  He  was  taken  upstairs  and  put  to 
bed." 

Operative  B.,  who  was  now  called  "Billy"  by  the 
man  he  was  shadowing,  showed  up  early  the  next 
morning  and  found  Sullivan  starting  a  new  spree. 
He  was  buying  drinks  for  the  people  he  had  been 
fighting  the  day  before. 

Two  of  the  Steinmetz  lodgers  and  Sullivan  then 
went  over  to  the  cabin  of  my  operatives  to  finish  up 
the  spree.  They  brought  along  beer  and  made 
themselves  comfortable.  Operative  B.  suggested  to 
Sullivan  that  it  was  a  good  thing  that  his  partners 
were  not  in  Conover  during  the  fight  the  day  before. 

"If  Mac  was  here,"  replied  Sullivan,  "there 
would    have    been    something    doing    because    he 


106  THE    MASKED    WAR 

always  carries  his  Colt  automatic  just  as  I  do. 
Most  of  the  time,  even  in  the  city,  he  carries  two 
guns  with  him,  and  if  he  only  has  one  with  him  he 
carries  a  large  dagger.  He  runs  no  chances  and 
whenever  he  pulls  the  trigger  his  man  falls.  He  is 
a  conservative  fellow,  can  scent  trouble,  is  always 
prepared  and  has  never  lost  out  yet.  He  can  put 
a  piece  of  paper  as  large  as  your  hand  on  a  tree 
and  at  twenty-five  paces  can  put  nine  out  of  ten 
bullets  in  the  center." 

Charlie  Lawrence,  another  member  of  the  party, 
was  described  by  Sullivan  as  being  "nobody's  bud" 
and  the  "gamest  kid  in  the  country."  He  also  car- 
ried two  Colt  revolvers  and  was  a  quick  shot.  He 
said  that  wherever  they  were  they  carried  an  extra 
clip  of  eight  cartridges. 

This  was  not  all  drunken  talk  by  any  means. 
The  bunch  of  men  my  operatives  were  tailing  could 
stand  off  in  the  road  and  roll  a  tomato  can  along 
with  the  bullets  from  their  guns.  Had  there  been 
any  suspicion  that  the  operatives  were  Burns  men 
and  not  hunters  and  mining  men,  had  there  been 
the  slightest  careless  work  on  the  part  of  my  inves- 
tigators they  would  have  had  to  battle  with  their 
own  weapons  for  their  lives.  The  two  subjects  were 
wanted  for  murder  in  connection  with  the  Los 
Angeles  Times  explosion  and  they  would  not  have 
hesitated  to  put  up  a  battle  with  rifles  and  pistols. 

Operative  B.  wanted  a  photograph  of  Sullivan. 
The  Chicago  office  would  have  given  almost  any- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  107 

thing  for  one  so  that  they  might  check  up  on  the 
subject  and  definitely  prove  his  identity.  In  one  of 
B.'s  reports  there  is  a  good  description  of  how  he 
went  about  getting  or  trying  to  get  a  picture  of 
Sullivan.  Along  with  this  description  of  the  at- 
tempt to  get  the  picture  are  more  details  of  the  life 
in  the  little  railway  station  where  two  men  wanted 
for  murder  and  two  men  shadowing  them  spent  the 
heart  of  the  winter  of  19 10.  In  this  report  "Sub- 
ject" refers  to  McManigal. 

From  report  of  Operator  B.: 

"Sullivan  is  a  great  ladies'  man  and  is  trying  hard 
to  win  two  of  the  girls  here.  He  invited  me  to  his 
camp  several  times,  and  were  it  not  for  the  house 
running  out  of  beer  and  whiskey,  he  would  have 
told  me  a  lot  more.  He  seems  worried  and  told 
me  he  has  lost  about  ten  pounds  in  the  last  month 
but  passed  it  off  by  saying  he  guessed  he  wasn't 
drinking  enough  out  here. 

"Several  of  the  girls  from  the  town  here  were 
talking  to  me  from  about  200  feet  away  and  he 
asked  me  to  invite  them  over,  which  I  did  and  I 
told  them  I  wanted  to  take  their  pictures,  and  hav- 
ing a  plate  camera  which  I  had  borrowed  in  the 
morning,  I  lined  up  the  girls  and  several  children 
and  Park  and  Sullivan,  but  Sullivan  refused  to  get 
in  the  picture  and  insisted  on  operating  the  camera 
himself  telling  me  he  had  one  of  the  finest  cameras 
made  at  his  camp  and  it  cost  him  $60.00  and  that 


108  THE    MASKED   WAR 

when  I  came  to  his  camp,  we  would  have  some  good 
photos  taken. 

"It  was  raining  all  day  and  very  dark,  but  Sulli- 
van insisted  that  I  could  take  a  good  'time'  photo. 
One  of  the  girls  wanted  a  photo  of  a  little  two- 
year-old  girl  and  while  Sullivan  held  her  in  his 
arms  I  took  the  picture  and  will  send  the  three 
plates  in  to  be  developed  to-morrow,  although  I 
doubt  if  any  will  turn  out  O.  K. 

"At  5  p.  m.  the  subject  came  to  Conover  carrying 
a  .303  Savage  rifle,  and  also  carried  a  .38  Colt 
automatic  revolver  and  one  eight-inch  blade  dagger 
at  his  side  and  carried  two  pockets  of  cartridges. 
He  first  went  to  the  post  office  and  then  returned  to 
the  Steinmetz  house  where  he  met  Sullivan  and 
they  talked  about  fifteen  minutes  in  the  front  room, 
then  both  went  into  the  kitchen  where  they  had 
several  drinks  of  the  last  pint  of  whiskey  in  the 
house,  while  Mrs.  Steinmetz  and  others  told  the 
subject  of  the  fight  of  yesterday.  The  subject 
joked  about  it  and  said  he  would  have  to  keep 
Sullivan  in  camp  for  the  rest  of  the  week. 

"Sullivan  and  the  subject  went  over  to  the  store 
and  purchased  a  lot  of  groceries,  etc.,  and  then  went 
over  to  my  cabin  looking  for  me,  and  one  half  hour 
later  I  heard  Operative  R.  J.  K.  talking  and  not 
knowing  the  subject  and  Sullivan  were  in  my  cabin 
I  walked  in  on  them,  and  they  were  sitting  on  the 
beds  talking  to  Operatives  B.  F.  D.  and  R.  J.  K. 
and  a  fellow  named  Tony,  who  was  out  hunting 


fTHE   MASKED   WAR  109 

with  them.  They  had  several  bottles  of  beer  that 
they  managed  to  get  somewhere.  T.  took  sides 
with  Sullivan,  explaining  the  fight  of  yesterday  and 
the  subject  seeing  that  Sullivan  and  I  were  very 
friendly,  the  subject  changed  from  general  conver- 
sations to  stones  and  finally  we  were  all  called  over 
to  dinner.  The  subject,  Sullivan,  Operatives  R.  J. 
K.  and  B.  F.  D.,  Tony  from  Eagle  River  and  I 
dined  together,  and  after  dinner  returned  to  the 
sitting  room.  Sullivan  was  still  drunk  and  would 
not  take  Mrs.  Steinmetz's  word  that  there  was  no 
more  booze  in  the  house,  but  went  into  the  cellar 
to  see  for  himself,  then  brought  the  jug  of  rootbeer 
and  treated  the  house  with  it. 

"Operative  R.  J.  K.  told  the  subject  he  was  from 
Milwaukee  and  they  talked  together  for  about  half 
an  hour.  While  the  subject,  Sullivan  and  all  the 
rest  of  us  were  in  the  sitting-room  after  dinner,  the 
subject  told  us  he  used  to  spend  about  six  months 
out  of  every  year  hunting  and  trapping;  that  he 
would  go  and  hunt  for  a  month  or  so  then  return  to 
the  city  and  work  for  a  month  and  keep  that  up 
month  after  month. 

"The  subject  and  Sullivan  both  asked  Operatives 
B.  F.  D.  and  R.  J.  K.  and  I  to  their  camp  next 
Wednesday  night  and  we  told  them  we  would  be 
there." 

The  next  morning  the  operatives  made  a  definite 
engagement  for  a  visit  to  the  camp  of  the  dyna- 


no  THE   MASKED   WAR 

miters  and  they  ordered  a  case  of  beer  shipped 
ahead  of  them.  It  was  not,  by  any  means,  a  per- 
fectly safe  venture,  for  one  of  the  dynamiters  car- 
ried a  Maxim  silencer  on  the  barrel  of  his  rifle  and 
took  pains  to  suggest  that  he  could  shoot  and  it 
would  be  almost  impossible  to  hear  the  report  a 
hundred  feet  away. 

A  blizzard  on  the  day  appointed  for  the  visit  to 
the  camp  brought  about  a  postponement  and  gave 
us  an  opportunity  to  send  another  operator  to  Con- 
over  with  instructions  to  the  men  already  on  the 
spot.  We  also  sent  a  kodak  to  replace  the  camera 
of  Operative  B.,  in  the  hope  that  he  would  get  a 
chance  for  a  snapshot.  The  additional  operative 
was  introduced  at  the  Steinmetz  house  as  a  sales- 
man for  the  Allis-Chalmers  Company.  Operatives 
R.  J.  K.,  B.  F.  D.  and  B.  then  arranged  a  tele- 
graphic code  with  him  and  hustled  him  out  of  Con- 
over  to  Monica  Junction,  some  distance  away. 

The  bad  weather  kept  up  and  on  December  2nd, 
the  camp  of  the  subjects  was  broken,  all  parties 
coming  into  Conover.  No.  I — McManigal — 
bossed  them  all  and  several  times  called  Sullivan 
and  others  from  the  Steinmetz  house  and  gave  them 
a  talking  to  for  drinking.  McManigal  could  drink 
and  carry  it  but  Sullivan  got  very  drunk  again. 
Sullivan  wanted  to  sleep  in  our  shack  with  B.,  but 
McManigal  would  not  let  him. 

In  Chicago  we  were  ready  for  the  tailing  of  the 
members  of  the  camp  as  they  left  the  woods  of 


THE    MASKED    WAR  in 

Wisconsin.  Spotters  were  ready  to  point  out  each 
subject  and  shadows  ready  to  tail  them. 

On  the  morning  of  December  3rd  McManigal 
tried  to  get  Sullivan  to  leave  Conover  with  him,  but 
Sullivan  was  still  drunk  and  insisted  on  remaining. 
He  was  very  much  worried  and  advised  Sullivan, 
who  is  to  be  referred  to  in  reports  following  as 
"Subject  2,"  to  keep  away  from  people  and  not  to 
talk.  He  seemed  to  be  afraid  that  No.  2  would 
tell  things.  McManigal  went  away  with  others  of 
the  party,  one  of  our  shadows  tailing  them  and 
sending  information  ahead. 

Not  knowing  when  Subject  2  would  pick  up  and 
leave,  B.  had  a  telegram  sent  him  which  would 
serve  as  an  excuse  and  head  off  suspicion  that  he 
was  following  his  man.  This  telegram  read:  "For 
over  thousand  dollar  purchase  you  must  arrange 
with  our  Mr.  Hayden  for  special  discount.  He 
leaves  for  East  Monday.     (Signed)  Harris." 

After  the  departure  of  Subjects  1  and  3,  Opera- 
tive B.  wired  Operative  R.  J.  K.  at  Milwaukee: 
"Order  size  one  and  three  Eye  Steam  pumps  of 
Allis-Chalmers  Co.,  in  Chicago  to-day  and  place  on 
my  bill  and  I  will  arrange  special  discount.  Leave 
here  Monday  to  see  Hayden,  Chicago."  That  tele- 
gram informed  the  operatives  in  Milwaukee  that  one 
and  three  had  left  for  that  city.  B.  also  wired  the 
operative  at  Monica  Junction  a  similar  message  so 
that  he  could  board  the  train  and  pick  up  the 
shadowing. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

DETECTIVE   GETS   SUSPECT'S    PICTURE 

Operative  B.  had  succeeded  in  making  two  snap- 
shots of  Sullivan.  The  subject  was  extremely  cau- 
tious and  insisted  on  having  a  time  exposure  picture 
made  when  the  women  of  the  Steinmetz  house  in- 
sisted on  his  coming  into  the  group.  He  protested 
at  first  against  having  any  picture  made,  but  he  was 
a  "ladies'  "  man  and  was  susceptible  to  their  plead- 
ings. He  thought  to  satisfy  them  and  also  avoid 
having  his  features  show  in  the  finished  group.  He 
fixed  the  camera  of  the  operative  so  that  it  would 
take  a  time  exposure.  By  moving  his  head  the 
fraction  of  an  inch  he  would  blur  the  picture  and 
hide  his  features  in  the  negative. 

This  was  a  clever  enough  scheme  to  fool  an 
amateur,  but  Operative  B.  was  no  amateur.  He 
took  the  camera  from  Sullivan  and  slipped  the  little 
lever  back  to  "Instantaneous"  and  then  pretended 
to  be  making  a  time  exposure  while,  in  reality,  he 
made  two  good  snapshots. 

The  operatives  had  reported  daily  out  of  the 
wilderness  and  had  sent  specimens  of  Sullivan's 
handwriting.     These  with  the  picture  and  with  in- 

112 


THE    MASKED   WAR  113 

formation  we  secured  at  Indianapolis  proved  to  us 
that  we  had  our  man — J.  B.  Bryce ! 

Here  was  the  actual  murderer  of  the  twenty-one 
newspaper  workers  who  were  sent  to  their  death 
in  the  destruction  of  the  Los  Angeles  Times.  We 
had  him  but  he  was  better  at  large  than  in  jail.  The 
time  had  not  come  for  slipping  the  handcuffs  on  him. 
He  would  lead  us  to  the  man  above  him,  John  J. 
McNamara.  He  would  lead  us  to  the  whole  crew  of 
"leaders"  who  engaged  in  the  conspiracy  against 
society  and  who  had  turned  a  big  and  once  powerful 
labor  organization  into  a  band  of  Anarchists  work- 
ing with  notoriously  confessed  Anarchists  of  the 
rankest  type. 

Our  operatives  picked  up  McManigal  and  the 
rest  of  the  hunting  party  as  they  left  the  train;  to 
tail  them  until  the  final  round-up.  But  each  shadow 
had  the  instructions  to  sacrifice  anything  rather  than 
have  the  man  he  was  following  realize  that  he  was 
being  shadowed. 

Sullivan  or  Bryce  was  left  alone  at  Conover  by 
the  others  and  the  sense  of  security  he  had  enjoyed 
because  of  the  presence  of  friends  and  fellow  crim- 
inals began  to  desert  him.  He  became  suspicious 
of  his  friend  "Billy,"  Operative  B.,  and  suddenly 
announced  that  he  would  leave  that  very  morning, 
December  5.  B.  hurried  into  his  traveling  clothes 
and  produced  his  telegram  which  would  warrant 
him  in  starting  away  with  the  subject.  Then  Bryce 
changed  his  mind  and  remained  in  his  room  at  the 


ii4  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Steinmetz  house  until  the  train  departed.  B.  might 
have  made  a  bluff  at  leaving  but  he  knew  that 
Bryce  was  friendly  with  the  ticket  agent  and  so  he 
bought  a  ticket  through  to  Chicago,  took  the  train 
and  hopped  off  at  Milwaukee  where  he  connected 
with  Operative  R.  J.  K.  He  was  fearful  that 
Bryce  might  take  a  freight  train  from  Conover  and 
so  he  waited  until  the  freight  pulled  into  Milwaukee 
at  2  :20  a.  m.  and  assured  himself  that  his  man  was 
not  on  it. 

The  record  of  the  last  day  spent  by  Operative  B. 
and  Bryce  together  in  the  woods  of  Wisconsin, 
when  fear  began  to  creep  into  the  heart  of  the  dyna- 
miter, is  told  graphically  by  my  investigator  as 
follows : 

"Operative  B.  reports: 

"Conover,  Wis.,  Mon.,  Dec.  5th,  1910. 

"At  7  :20  a.  m.  No.  2  came  over  to  my  shack 
and  remained  with  me  talking  about  getting  a  party 
together  to  go  fishing  to-day  at  Scott  Lake,  six 
miles  south  of  Conover.  After  breakfast  he  told 
me  he  was  not  feeling  well  from  his  jag  and  wanted 
to  go  away  from  where  he  could  get  any  booze. 
Within  a  half  hour,  No.  2,  Frank  Rempert  and  his 
assistant  Tony,  Mary  Thomas,  Alice  and  Tillie 
Steinmetz  and  I  left  the  town  in  a  hand  car  for 
Scott  Lake,  and  just  as  we  were  about  to  start,  I 
got  the  crowd  to  pose  for  a  picture,  and  while  I  was 
getting  the  distance,  etc.,  No.  2  tried  several  times 


THE    MASKED    WAR  115 

to  hide  himself  behind  the  others,  and  after  that 
while  at  the  Lake  whenever  anyone  suggested  taking 
a  picture,  I  asked  No.  2  to  take  it,  which  he  will- 
ingly agreed  to  do.  One  time  while  he  and  Mary 
Thomas  were  several  hundred  feet  out  on  the  lake, 
he  knelt  down  and  let  Mary  Thomas  sit  on  his  knee 
and  I  dared  him  to  let  me  take  a  picture  of  him  in 
that  attitude;  he  agreed,  providing  I  would  get  in 
the  picture,  which  I  did  and  let  Tony,  the  section 
hand,  take  the  snap  shot.  Another  time,  one  of  the 
girls  wanted  her  picture  taken  and  asked  No.  2  and 
the  others  to  get  in  it  and  No.  2  hung  behind  in  a 
suspicious  way  and  insisted  that  I  take  a  time  pic- 
ture, which  I  did,  but  I  think  he  suggested  that  so 
as  to  give  him  a  chance  to  move  and  blur  his  pic- 
ture. 

"While  at  the  lake  No.  2  spent  most  of  his  time 
with  the  girls,  but  while  with  me  one  time  said  he 
could  have  left  here  with  No.  1,  that  he  is  working 
for  No.  1,  and  that  he  guessed  No.  1  had  little  confi- 
dence in  him  after  this  last  jag.  I  asked  him  what 
was  the  good  of  worrying,  and  he  said:  'I'm  not 
worrying  now  over  that;  that's  all  I  have  done  for 
a  month  is  worry,  and  I  am  going  to  cut  it  out;  it 
does  not  get  anyone  anything;  what  is  done  cannot 
be  undone.'  He  also  said  that  he  was  very  easily 
worried,  and  half  the  time  he  did  not  know  what  he 
worried  about.  Several  times  he  remarked  that  he 
was  sorry  he  did  not  go  to  Chicago  with  the  others 
yesterday. 


u6  THE    MASKED   WAR 

"No.  2  was  very  quiet  all  day,  and  only  had  one 
drink  all  day  up  to  four  o'clock  this  afternoon,  and 
was  sober  and  seemed  to  be  giving  something  much 
thought.  When  he  would  sit  with  his  chin  resting 
on  his  hands,  I  remarked  for  him  to  come  out  of 
the  trance  he  was  in,  and  he  said,  'I  am  sorry  that 

1  did  not  return  with  No.  i,  but  I  will  see  him  to- 
morrow night.' 

"During  the  evening  he  told  Henry  Steinmetz 
that  No.  i  lived  at  414  S.  Sangamon  Street,  Chi- 
cago. After  our  return  from  the  lake,  No.  2  or- 
dered several  rounds  of  drinks  for  the  family,  and 

2  then  shaved  himself  with  a  safety  razor,  which 
he  had  in  his  suit  case,  and  put  on  his  brown  suit. 
No.  2  is  letting  his  blond  mustache  grow,  and  also 
side  whiskers,  and  when  one  of  the  Steinmetz  girls 
asked  why  he  let  them  grow  he  said  it  was  because 
he  had  his  jaw  dislocated.  Later,  in  answer  to  a 
similar  question  from  Mrs.  Steinmetz,  he  said  the 
bones  showed  too  plainly.  On  one  corner  of  his 
mouth,  on  the  left,  is  a  white  mole  about  this  size 
'O'  and  about  half  inch  below  his  side  burner  on 
the  left  side  are  two  smaller  white  moles,  and  on 
the  right  of  his  large  Roman  nose  he  has  a  light 
brown  mole.  The  upper  right  eye  tooth  has  a  gold 
crown,  and  all  the  rest  of  his  teeth  are  white  and 
even,  especially  the  lower  teeth. 

"He  is  wearing  a  cheap  ready-made  light  brown 
suit  and  light-brown  fedora  hat,  wears  no  rings,  but 
has  a  heavy  gold  watch  chain  with  a  locket.     His 


THE    MASKED    WAR  117 

whole  make-up  is  that  of  a  refined  farmer.  He  has 
no  overcoat  with  him.  Has  two  suit  cases;  one  is 
a  very  good  leather  one  (new),  while  the  other  is 
old,  and  a  dark  imitation  alligator  skin." 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

THE   MEETING  OF   THE   DYNAMITERS 

After  his  false  start  for  Chicago  and  the  short 
stay  in  Milwaukee,  Operative  B.  took  a  train  back 
for  Conover  on  the  afternoon  of  December  7. 
Changing  cars  at  Monica  Junction  he  was  informed 
that  Sullivan  had  left  Conover  for  Watersmeat  sta- 
tion, where  he  had  taken  a  through  train  with  Pull- 
man berth  for  Chicago.  Operative  B.  picked  up 
Operative  W.  H.  C.  at  Monica  Junction  and  in- 
structed him  to  wire  him  in  the  business  code  ar- 
ranged so  that  he  could  turn  back  at  Conover  and 
leave  for  Chicago.  He  was  still  covering  himself 
thoroughly,  although  his  man  was  many  miles  away. 
It  was  good  detective  work,  for  he  had  roped  the 
subject,  and  it  would  be  his  business  perhaps  to  run 
into  him  again  and  maintain  that  friendship  he  had 
created. 

B.  went  on  to  Conover  and  the  Steinmetz  girls 
told  him  that  after  his  departure  Sullivan  had 
looked  over  some  letters  and  had  said  that  he  had 
overlooked  an  important  matter,  and  would  have  to 
hurry  to  Chicago.  This  was  merely  an  excuse  for 
getting  away  alone.     The  girls  said  that  Sullivan 

118 


THE    MASKED    WAR  119 

cried  when  he  left  the  house  and  that  he  promised 
to  write  to  the  family  and  send  the  children  Christ- 
mas presents. 

All  this  time  my  son  Raymond,  from  his  Chicago 
office,  was  having  McManigal  shadowed  day  and 
night,  and  his  home  in  Sangamon  Street  watched  by 
the  pick  of  his  men. 

Sullivan,  after  leaving  the  train  from  Conover, 
went  directly  to  the  home  of  McManigal  with  Op- 
erative B.  F.  D.  following  him.  This  operative  had 
known  him  while  he  was  refugeeing  in  the  woods 
and  so  dared  not  take  the  same  trolley  car  he  took 
from  the  depot.  He  jumped  into  a  taxi  and  had 
the  chauffeur  follow  the  car. 

Sullivan  remained  only  twenty  minutes  in  the 
home  of  McManigal,  and  then  left  the  house  with 
him.  My  son  Raymond  and  Operative  A.  V.  were 
also  in  the  vicinity  of  McManigal's  house  when  the 
two  subjects  connected.  It  was  an  important  mo- 
ment in  the  hunt  for  the  perpetrators  of  the  Los 
Angeles  crime  and  the  scores  of  other  crimes  that 
had  made  the  reign  of  terror  in  the  United  States. 
Two  dynamiters,  both  murderous,  desperate  men, 
were  walking  the  streets  of  the  second  largest  city 
in  the  country,  passing  policemen,  courts  of  justice 
and  perfectly  free  of  any  hindrance  from  the  ordi- 
nary machinery  of  law. 

The  two  men  boarded  an  eastbound  Van  Buren 
street  car,  and  our  shadows  followed  in  a  taxi  to 
the    Dearborn    Street   station.      They    boarded    a 


120  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Monon  train  which  left  at  12.10  p.  m.,  and  sat  in 
a  forward  coach,  talking  earnestly  and  in  whispers. 
As  the  train  was  about  to  start  McManigal  jumped 
off  and  one  of  our  shadows  took  him  up  again.  Sul- 
livan remained  on  the  train  and  went  to  Indian- 
apolis. He  was  going  to  report  to  headquarters. 
Two  operatives  followed  him.  He  would  never 
again  be  without  a  shadow  until  he  was  safe  in 
prison. 

Operative  B.  F.  D.  left  the  train  with  him,  saw 
him  check  one  of  his  grips  and  take  the  other  with 
him.  Sullivan  went  one  block  up  Illinois  Street  and 
boarded  a  Pennsylvania  Avenue  car.  Endeavoring 
to  throw  off  any  shadow  that  might  be  after  him, 
Sullivan  alighted  at  Market  Street  and  entered  the 
Dennison  Hotel.  He  passed  through  the  hotel  and 
slipped  out  of  a  side  entrance,  and  then  hurried  to 
the  Plaza  Hotel.  He  registered  as  F.  Sullivan, 
City,  and  was  given  Room  179.  B.  F.  D.  covered 
the  hotel  until  one  in  the  morning,  when  Operative 
A.  V.  relieved  him  for  the  remainder  of  the  night. 

In  all  probability  Sullivan  got  in  touch  with  head- 
quarters by  telephone.  He  left  Indianapolis  the 
next  morning  for  Cincinnati,  and  on  arrival  there 
checked  his  grip  and  left  the  station  to  seek  shelter 
in  a  nearby  drug  store.  He  was  waiting  for  some 
one,  and  would  leave  the  drug  store  occasionally  to 
cross  to  the  station  and  look  at  the  train  schedule. 
He  bought  a  ticket  for  Northside,  a  suburb  of  the 
city,  and  at  1.35  p.  m.  a  tall,  clean-shaven  stranger 


THE    MASKED   WAR  121 

alighted  from  a  train  from  Indianapolis.  The 
stranger  also  purchased  a  ticket  for  Northside  and 
greeted  Sullivan.  They  took  a  train  for  the  sub- 
urban settlement  at  2.45  p.  m.  The  stranger  car- 
ried two  packages  wrapped  in  paper  and  Sullivan 
two  grips. 

Arriving  at  Northside  the  two  subjects  separated, 
the  stranger  taking  a  trolley,  one  of  our  operatives 
following  him.  Sullivan  walked  to  Chase  Street  to 
Virginia  Street,  through  an  unlighted  street  and  up 
a  hill  with  a  few  small  houses  on  it.  The  neighbor- 
hood was  very  tough,  unlighted  and  without  side- 
walks. The  operatives  following  Sullivan  came  to 
the  end  of  this  street,  and  there  was  danger  of  get- 
ting too  close  to  the  subject.  Because  of  the  topog- 
raphy they  had  no  way  of  covering  themselves. 
They  decided  to  drop  their  man  and  return  to  the 
station.  At  the  station  they  found  Operative  P.  J. 
B.,  who  had  tailed  the  stranger.  Comparing  notes 
they  found  that  the  two  men  had  gone  the  same  way 
and  to  the  same  place.  Our  men  had  to  wait  until 
daylight  to  locate  their  subjects.  They  took  a  car 
to  Cincinnati,  and  there  got  a  few  hours'  rest. 

We  now  had  three  men  fully  covered,  namely; 
McManigal,  known  in  the  reports  as  Subject  1 ; 
Sullivan,  known  in  the  reports  as  Subject  2,  and  the 
stranger  who  connected  with  Sullivan  and  who  will 
be  referred  to  as  Subject  3. 

The  reader  might  think  that  good  luck  played  a 
part  in  the  appearance  of  the  stranger,  Subject  3, 


122  THE    MASKED    WAR 

when  he  met  Sullivan  in  the  Cincinnati  station  while 
Sullivan  was  under  surveillance.  But  luck  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  it.  Subject  3  brought  his  own  shadow 
with  him  to  that  meeting,  and  the  shadow  had  fol- 
lowed him  from  the  headquarters  of  the  Interna- 
tional Union  of  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron  Work- 
ers in  Indianapolis. 

In  a  detective  operation  as  large  as  the  one  in- 
volving the  structural  iron  workers'  strike  and  the 
resulting  crimes  perpetrated  by  the  men  at  the  head 
of  the  union  so  many  men  are  used,  and  there  are 
so  many  different  ends  to  the  case  that  frequently 
operatives  will  be  working  in  the  same  city  on  the 
same  case  without  knowing  the  nature  of  each 
others  task. 

When  I  undertook  the  work  of  finding  the  men 
guilty  of  the  Los  Angeles  crime  and  putting  an  end 
to  the  reign  of  terror  my  agency  had  attained  such 
excellent  growth  that  I  was  able  to  direct  the  work 
through  my  managers  in  the  various  parts  of  the 
country,  keeping  each  district  separate  so  that  there 
would  be  no  waste  of  energy  and  effort  by  one  force 
running  into  the  field  of  another.  Wherever  I 
might  be,  whether  among  the  Anarchists  at  Home 
Colony  or  in  my  New  York  offices  or  in  a  hotel 
room,  I  always  kept  communication  established  with 
my  son  Raymond  in  Chicago  and  with  those  opera- 
tives who  were  immediately  available  for  quick 
work  that  circumstances  might  demand. 

In  frequent  journeys  across  the  continent  I  could 


THE    MASKED    WAR  123 

be  reached  by  telegraph  wherever  the  train  might 
pause  and  my  managers  could  tell  in  a  moment  just 
what  part  of  the  country  my  train  was  speeding 
through.  Every  operative  reported  every  day  by 
wire,  and  then  more  fully  by  letter,  and  through 
thousands  of  these  reports  we  studied  the  progress 
of  the  case  and  marked  off  clues  and  trails  that  had 
been  run  out  to  the  end. 

As  I  have  said  in  public  addresses,  private  detec- 
tive agencies  are  too  frequently  the  means  for  black- 
mailing, and  the  private  detective  has  all  the  op- 
portunity in  the  world  to  develop  into  a  black- 
mailer. In  assembling  my  force,  which  now  num- 
bers over  1,200  men,  including  men  of  every  pro- 
fession from  the  college  professor  to  the  day  la- 
borer, we  strove  to  employ  only  men  we  could  trust 
implicitly.  I  believe  that  we  succeeded  in  getting 
as  clean  a  corps  of  intelligent  operatives  as  has  ever 
been  assembled  by  one  man  engaged  in  the  profes- 
sion of  detection.  Many  of  them  could  have  sold 
out  on  me  during  the  McNamara  case,  but  not  one 
of  them  yielded  to  the  offers  of  bribes  made  them. 

This  digression  is  merely  to  show  the  reader  how 
far  we  could  and  did  trust  our  operatives  and  how 
wide  was  the  net  we  spread  for  the  dynamiters. 

As  the  net  was  woven  stronger  with  each  fresh 
discovery  of  our  investigators  we  drew  it  closer  and 
closer  about  the  big  fish  in  the  gigantic  conspiracy 
of  wreck  and  murder  and  ruin.  The  expense  of 
maintaining  the  number  of  men  I  did  in  a  nation- 


124  THE    MASKED    WAR 

wide  search  was  extremely  heavy,  and  at  one  time  I 
found  myself  without  enough  funds  from  Los  An- 
geles to  go  on  with  the  investigation.  The  detective 
in  fiction  never  has  to  bother  about  money,  but  my 
men  had  to  be  paid,  heavy  telegraph  tolls  had  to  be 
met  with  cash  payments,  thousands  of  dollars  had  to 
be  paid  in  railroad  fares  and  hotel  bills  and  bills  for 
subsistence.  I  had  gone  too  far  to  stop,  for  I  was 
certain  of  the  men  who  had  committed  all  these 
crimes,  and  it  was  a  matter  of  public  safety  that 
these  criminals  be  put  where  they  could  not  imperil 
not  only  the  property  of  the  people  they  were  fight- 
ing but  also  the  lives  of  thousands  of  innocent  peo- 
ple who  were  not  at  all  concerned  in  the  outcome  of 
the  strike. 

I  financed  the  investigation  myself  for  the  time 
being,  and  kept  my  men  busy  in  many  parts  of  the 
country. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

SHADOWING  THE  MCNAMARAS  AT  HOME 

When  the  operatives  trailing  Sullivan  and  the  tall, 
clean-shaven  stranger  came  upon  the  suburb  of 
Northside  it  was  new  territory  for  them.  The  two 
men  they  had  under  surveillance  had  passed  through 
Northside  to  where  the  country  became  ragged  and 
broken,  and  where  a  clump  of  houses  was  known  as 
Cumminsville  before  that  area  was  taken  into  the 
city  limits  of  Cincinnati. 

Over  a  month  before  their  arrival  we  had  sent 
Operative  H.  B.  M.  to  Cincinnati  with  instructions 
to  locate  James  B.  McNamara,  brother  of  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara,  secretary-treasurer  of  the  International 
Union  of  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron  Workers. 
This  operator  first  looked  up  a  city  directory  and 
found  James  B.  McNamara  set  forth  there  as  a 
printer,  and  his  residence  put  down  as  4306  Quarry 
Street.  He  started  out  to  find  this  address,  and 
finally  located  Quarry  Street  in  the  old  Cummins- 
ville section  and  the  house  in  the  extreme  northwest 
corner  of  the  settlement.  It  was  a  hilly  section  and 
the  street  difficult  to  find.  It  was  short  and  boasted 
only  four  houses,  the  last  house  to  the  north  being 

125 


126  THE    MASKED   WAR 

No.  4306.  It  was  the  most  pretentious  of  the  four, 
being  a  two-story  frame  house  surrounded  by  an 
iron  fence  set  in  concrete. 

The  operative  might  have  a  long  wait  for  the 
return  home  of  James  B.  McNamara,  and  so  he 
sought  to  get  a  room  in  the  neighborhood.  He  was 
unable  to  get  one,  and  so  had  to  content  himself 
with  headquarters  in  the  nearest  saloon  kept  by  a 
man  named  Fred  Haus.  He  learned  that  the  house 
was  occupied  by  Mrs.  Mary  T.  McNamara,  and 
that  her  son  James  B.  spent  a  good  part  of  his  time 
away  from  Cincinnati.  None  of  the  people  in  the 
neighborhood  knew  what  he  did  for  a  living.  The 
gossip  was  that  he  had  a  wife  in  Chicago. 

The  reader  will  now  see  how  the  net  was  being 
drawn  in  around  the  principals  in  the  wholesale  Los 
Angeles  murder.  Three  sets  of  operatives  came  to- 
gether at  this  point  in  the  progress  of  the  case. 

Sullivan  had  two  shadows  escort  him  to  the  home 
of  Mrs.  McNamara.  The  clean-shaven  stranger 
had  another  shadow  see  him  over  the  threshold  and 
there  was  still  another  shadow  awaiting  their  ar- 
rival. 

The  two  visitors  to  the  little  house  in  the  little 
street  among  the  hills  of  Cumminsville  were  the  two 
sons  of  Mrs.  McNamara,  J.  J.  and  James  B. 

Subject  No.  1,  first  known  as  J.  W.  McGraw,  was 
Ortie  McManigal,  and  we  had  him  well  in  hand. 

Subject  No.  2,  first  known  in  San  Francisco  as 
J.  B.  Bryce,  and  then  in  the  woods  of  Wisconsin  as 


THE    MASKED    WAR  127 

Frank  Sullivan,  was  James  B.  McNamara.  We  had 
him  where  we  could  put  the  nippers  on  him  at  any 
moment. 

Subject  No.  3,  the  clean-shaven  man  who  had 
connected  with  James  B.  McNamara  after  his  re- 
turn from  refugeeing  in  the  Wisconsin  woods,  was 
J.  J.  McNamara.  We  could  always  find  him  when 
we  needed  him,  and  we  kept  him  shadowed  con- 
stantly. 

We  had  witnesses  to  identify  McGraw  as  the 
man  who  bought  the  nitroglycerin  at  Portland,  Ind., 
from  Morehart,  and  we  had  his  sawdust  trail  to 
East  Peoria,  where  the  McClintic-Marshall  girders 
were  blown  up. 

We  had  witnesses  to  identify  James  B.  McNa- 
mara as  the  man  who  bought  the  dynamite  for  the 
Los  Angeles  explosion,  and  we  had  his  signatures 
as  Bryce,  as  Sullivan  and  his  own  signature  to  con- 
nect him  up  by  means  of  expert  testimony  in  hand- 
writing. 

We  had  no  real  convincing  evidence  against  J.  J. 
McNamara,  who  was  the  directing  mind  of  all  the 
explosions  and  assaults.  Nor  had  we  enough  evi- 
dence to  warrant  successful  prosecution  against 
Tveitmoe,  Hockin,  Ryan  and  the  45  other  labor 
"leaders"  who  were  subsequently  indicted  by  the 
Federal  grand  jury  in  Indianapolis  for  conspiracy. 
We  were  far  from  the  end  of  the  case. 

On  December  12,  19 10,  our  operatives  started 
the  surveillance  of  the  McNamara  home  wherein 


128  THE   MASKED   WAR 

were  the  two  men  who  were  to  be  sent  to  prison 
later  on  their  own  pleas  of  guilty  to  the  charge  of 
murder. 

For  any  one  in  the  cottages  on  Quarry  Street  to 
make  his  way  to  the  station  at  Northside  or  the 
trolley  going  into  Cincinnati  it  would  be  necessary 
to  pass  the  junction  of  two  highways  known  as 
Colerain  and  Virginia  Avenues.  This  was  the  point 
where  real  streets  with  sidewalks  began,  where 
there  were  more  houses,  a  saloon  or  two  and  a  shop 
or  two.  Between  this  point  and  Quarry  Street 
there  was  no  cover  for  a  shadow  and  our  men  had 
a  hard  time  of  it  watching  the  McNamara  house. 
A  man  was  always  on  duty  at  Colerain  and  Virginia 
Avenues. 

On  the  first  morning  of  the  surveillance  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara left  his  mother's  home  and  boarded  a 
street  car  for  Cincinnati  proper.  Operatives  A.  V. 
and  P.  J.  B.  followed  him.  The  subject  alighted  at 
one  of  the  principal  corners  in  the  city,  Walnut  and 
Sixth  Streets.  He  walked  the  length  of  a  block 
twice  on  the  same  side  of  the  street,  stopping  every 
twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  and  looking  about  and 
scanning  the  faces  of  the  people  near  him.  It  was 
evident  that  he  wanted  to  find  out  whether  he  was 
being  followed,  and  my  operatives,  following  the 
standing  instruction  never  to  let  a  subject  uncover 
a  shadow,  dropped  him  and  went  back  to  Cummins- 

ville. 

The  surveillance  was  kept  up  night  and  day.  Dur- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  129 

ing  the  daytime  the  operatives  managed  to  get  to 
the  top  of  a  steep  hill  which  overlooked  the  cot- 
tages on  Quarry  Street.  They  had  a  bird's-eye  view 
from  there,  and  soon  found  cross-country  paths  they 
could  utilize  for  quick  trips  back  to  the  car  line. 
One  operative  lying  in  the  bushes  on  this  hill  had 
a  close  call  from  death.  He  wore  a  brown  felt  hat, 
just  about  the  color  of  a  rabbit.  It  was  all  that 
showed  over  the  tops  of  the  bushes.  He  was 
startled  when  a  hunting  dog  ran  through  the  brush 
to  him.  He  turned  in  time  to  see  a  hunter  with  a 
shotgun  leveled  at  his  head.  The  operative  yelled 
in  time  to  show  the  hunter  his  peril  and  then  rolled 
over  and  pretended  to  sleep. 

In  the  nighttime  the  operatives  could  approach 
the  cottages  on  Quarry  Street  without  risk  of  being 
uncovered.  But  the  movements  of  the  subjects  after 
night  gave  them  little  chance  of  discovering  any- 
thing. They  remained  indoors  and  the  blinds  of  the 
house  were  generally  drawn. 

Finally  J.  J.  McNamara  was  compelled  to  return 
to  his  office  in  Indianapolis.  He  did  so,  and  his  ar- 
rival there  was  duly  reported  from  an  operative  who 
had  engaged  a  room  which  gave  him  a  good  view 
of  the  offices  of  the  International  Union  in  the 
American  Central  Life  Building.  This  operative 
wired  the  Chicago  office:  "Have  three  machine." 
This  was  to  inform  Manager  Raymond  Burns  that 
he  had  picked  up  Subject  No.  3. 

All  during  the  early  spring  of  1.911,  J.  J.  McNa- 


1 3o  THE    MASKED    WAR 

mara  moved  always  with  a  shadow,  and  his  frequent 
attempts  to  catch  some  one  following  him  failed. 
He  felt  secure,  and  in  that  feeling  of  security  went 
on  with  this  work  of  directing  his  destructive  forces. 

About  Easter  time  he  left  Indianapolis  headquar- 
ters and  started  for  the  station.  To  cover  himself, 
as  he  thought,  he  slipped  into  a  large  building  and 
out  by  another  entrance.  The  operative  shadowing 
him  knew  that  in  a  few  minutes  a  train  was  due  to 
leave  the  Union  depot  for  Cincinnati  so  he  went 
there  instead  of  trying  to  hunt  his  man  in  the  build- 
ing. Two  operatives  were  already  there  watching 
all  incoming  and  outgoing  trains.  He  picked  up  his 
man  again  and  followed  him  to  Cincinnati  and  then 
to  Cumminsville  and  his  mother's  home.  The  fol- 
lowing day  the  operatives  followed  J.  J.  to  church 
with  his  mother.  That  night  J.  J.  eluded  our 
watchers,  but  was  picked  up  by  the  operative  at  In- 
dianapolis headquarters  the  next  morning,  and  we 
called  our  Cumminsville  men  from  a  cold  trail. 

From  the  time  of  the  return  of  James  B.  McNa- 
mara  from  hiding  in  the  Wisconsin  woods  to  April 
22d,  191 1,  we  followed  every  step  made  by  the  three 
subjects,  J.  J.,  J.  B.,  and  McManigal.  We  knew 
where  their  explosives  were  stowed,  we  knew  their 
system  of  planting  their  bombs  and  setting  them  off, 
we  knew  every  time  F.  M.  Ryan,  the  president  of 
the  International  Union,  and  E.  A.  Clancy  and 
other  labor  "leaders"  met  with  J.  J.  McNamara, 
the  directing  mind  of  the  acts  of  violence.    We  had 


THE    MASKED    WAR  131 

uncovered  the  personal  and  private  sides  of  their 
lives,  and  on  April  22d  we  were  ready  to  act. 

We  had  used  six  months  and  twenty-two  days  in 
the  investigation. 

Before  giving  the  details  of  the  arrests  I  shall 
give  an  account  of  the  detective  work  done  from  the 
McManigal  end  of  the  problem,  leading  to  the  ar- 
rests of  McManigal  and  James  B.  McNamara  as 
they  went  forth  at  the  direction  of  J.  J.  McNamara 
to  blow  up  a  number  of  nonunion  plants. 


CHAPTER   XX 

burns'  meeting  with  hockin 

We  were  waiting  to  catch  J.  J.  McNamara  in 
the  act  of  participating  in  some  of  the  dynamiting 
schemes.  My  idea,  in  order  to  make  this  complete, 
was  to  catch  either  Caplan  or  "Schmidtie,"  and  get 
a  confession  from  them,  and  implicate  the  "higher- 
ups." 

In  the  meantime,  I  learned  from  my  son  that  a 
Mr.  Jewell,  connected  with  the  McClintic-Marshall 
Construction  Company,  had  given  us  information  to 
the  effect  that  the  man  who  Mr.  McClintic  had  pre- 
viously informed  me  was  furnishing  them  with  in- 
formation was  Herbert  S.  Hockin,  and  that  they 
had  arranged  to  have  him  communicate  with  us.  I 
then  returned  to  Chicago,  and  my  son  arranged  with 
me  for  a  meeting  with  Hockin.  I  met  Hockin,  and 
he  was  extremely  nervous,  and  very  reticent.  He 
told  me,  however,  that  when  he  learned  from  J.  J. 
McNamara  that  his  (McNamara's)  purpose  was 
to  sacrifice  human  life  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
about  the  results  he  hoped  to  obtain — whatever  they 
were — that  he  then  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would 
have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  that.     He  feared 

132 


THE    MASKED    WAR  133 

that  his  course  would  result  in  disaster  to  organized 
labor,  and  feared  that  to  complain  within  the  ranks 
of  organized  labor  might  not  have  the  desired  ef- 
fect. He  thereupon  called  on  McClintic-Marshall. 
After  the  destruction  of  the  Los  Angeles  Times, 
Hockin  endeavored  to  reach  me  entirely  outside 
of  McClintic-Marshall,  without  consulting  with 
them  at  all,  through  another  detective  agency  in 
Chicago.  This,  however,  was  at  a  time  when  we 
had  in  the  hands  of  McClintic-Marshall,  our  clients, 
a  report  showing  that  our  operative,  in  his  investi- 
gation of  the  Peoria  matter,  was  in  Indianapolis, 
and  his  investigation  further  showed  that  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara  and  Hockin  were  the  two  men  upon  whom 
we  had  placed  the  responsibility  for  the  Peoria  mat- 
ter. They  had  been  there  before  the  explosion;  so 
my  son  told  me  that  he  had  met  Hockin  and  that 
Hockin  had  made  this  statement  to  him  that  I  have 
just  related. 

Hockin  insisted,  from  the  very  start,  that  the  only 
man  that  he  knew  who  was  connected  with  this  and 
also  connected  with  organized  labor  was  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara;  that  while  he  suspected  Tveitmoe's  con- 
nection with  it,  he  had  no  evidence.  Now  I  said  to 
Hockin:  "Do  you  know  that  we  have  in  the  hands 
of  McClintic-Marshall  now  a  report  showing  that 
we  have  carried  the  Peoria  investigation  right  up  to 
the  headquarters  of  the  International  Bridge  and 
Structural  Iron  Workers?"  He  said  "no."  He 
did  not  know  that.     And  I  said  to  him:  "You  are 


134  THE    MASKED    WAR 

coming  late  in  the  day,  when  we  are  about  to  grab 
you  and  J.  J.  McNamara."  He  replied  that  he  did 
not  know  that  I  had  that  report  in  the  hands  of  Mc- 
Clintic-Marshall.  I  then  asked  him  who  J.  W.  Mc- 
Graw  was,  and  I  gave  him  a  description.  He  stated 
that  it  was  Ortie  McManigal;  that  he  lived  in  Chi- 
cago; that  the  other  man  being  used  was  a  brother 
to  J.  J.  McNamara  by  the  name  of  J.  B.  McNa- 
mara. And,  firmly  believing  that  Hockin's  purpose 
was  to  eliminate  the  radical  element  from  organized 
labor,  and  that  he  would  work  honestly  and  sin- 
cerely with  us,  because  he  seemed  to  be  thoroughly 
honest  in  his  convictions,  I  then  suggested  to  him 
that  we  would  pay  him  for  his  work  and  for  his 
trouble.  He  stated  that  he  wouldn't  accept  any- 
thing; that  we  couldn't  pay  him  money  enough,  and 
that  no  matter  how  much  money  we  offered  him,  it 
wouldn't  tempt  him,  but  what  he  would  accept  would 
be  for  whatever  expenses  might  be  incurred  in  com- 
ing to  see  me  from  time  to  time.  I  urged  him  very 
strongly  to  make  a  fuller  explanation  as  to  what 
connection  the  International  had  with  the  matter, 
and  he  insisted  that  they  appropriated  one  thousand 
dollars  a  month  to  J.  J.  McNamara,  and  they  didn't 
know  what  he  did  with  that  money.  They  naturally 
supposed  he  was  using  it  for  "organization"  pur- 
poses. 

It  was  after  talking  with  Hockin  that  I  put  "long 
shadows"  on  McManigal  and  J.  B.  McNamara. 

I  was  satisfied  that  J.  J.  McNamara,  sooner  or 


THE    MASKED    WAR  135 

later,  would  personally  participate  in  these  dynamit- 
ings,  and  I  had  in  mind  all  the  while  that  it  would 
take  evidence  of  the  very  strongest  and  most  con- 
clusive character  to  convict  him,  because  of  the  fact 
that  he  was  a  lawyer  and  he  occupied  an  important 
position — that  of  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  In- 
ternational Union. 

In  the  meantime  our  men  covering  McManigal's 
house,  owing  to  the  great  precaution  they  had  to 
take,  frequently  missed  McManigal  going  in  and 
out,  but,  on  one  occasion,  found  McManigal  and 
Jim  McNamara  coming  out  of  the  house  carrying 
two  large  bundles.  They  carried  them  downtown, 
and  then  began  a  series  of  tests,  which  compelled 
our  men  to  drop  them.  The  following  morning  we 
read  where  this  dynamite  was  exploded  in  South 
Chicago,  without  doing  any  damage  whatever. 

Finding  that  I  was  having  a  serious  time  about 
my  money  at  Los  Angeles,  and  by  this  time  having 
something  over  $14,000  invested  in  the  matter,  and 
knowing  that  unless  I  succeeded  in  actually  captur- 
ing the  men  responsible  for  the  blowing  up  of  the 
Times  I  would  lose  that  amount  of  money,  I 
made  up  my  mind  that  I  would  have  to  take  a 
chance  on  rounding  them  up,  and  felt  that  I  might 
possibly  be  able  to  secure  a  confession  from  Ortie 
McManigal  which  would  serve  in  lieu  of  a  confes- 
sion from  "Schmidtie"  or  Caplan.  Being  hard 
pressed  for  money  at  this  time,  I  was  compelled  to 
go  to  friends  and  borrow  $10,000. 


136  THE    MASKED    WAR 

We  then  began  to  draw  the  lines  tightly  about  the 
McNamaras.  We  established  a  closer  espionage 
on  J.  J.  in  Indianapolis  by  securing  a  place  directly 
opposite  the  building  where  the  office  of  the  Mc- 
Namaras was  located,  and  we  also  secured  a  place 
across  the  street  from  the  building  in  which  Qrtie 
McManigal's  apartment  was  located. 


CHAPTER    XXI 

BRIBES   OFFERED   AT   TIME   OF  ARRESTS 

We  were  all  ready  for  the  arrests  when  McMani- 
gal  packed  his  grip  in  the  Sangamon  Street  flat  and 
kissed  his  wife  and  children  good-by.  We  were 
waiting  for  him  to  join  J.  B.  McNamara  and  start 
with  him  on  their  next  round  of  destruction. 

Operative  McL.  was  to  keep  on  the  heels  of  Sub- 
ject No.  i,  McManigal.  Subject  No.  2,  J.  B.  Mc- 
Namara, was  already  well  shadowed,  and  I  was 
waiting  for  the  right  moment  to  walk  into  the  head- 
quarters of  the  International  Union  and  make  a 
prisoner  of  J.  J.  McNamara. 

On  the  morning  of  April  11  McManigal  made 
his  start  to  join  Jim  McNamara.  Here  is  the  run- 
ning report  of  Operative  McL.  from  seven  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  that  date  until  7.30  in  the  evening 
of  April  15th. 

Operative  McL.  reports: 

"At  7  a.  m.  I  arrived  at  place  of  cover  oppo- 
site Subject  No.  i's  home.  During  the  morning 
nothing  was  seen  of  Subject  No.  1.  At  12.30  p.  m. 
I  left  for  lunch,  leaving  A.  V.  to  cover  the  house. 

137 


138  THE    MASKED    WAR 

I  returned  at  1.20  p.  m.  and  found  A.  V.  gone.  I 
immediately  telephoned  the  agency  and  learned  that 
A.  V.  and  B.  F.  D.  were  at  the  La  Salle  depot  with 
No.  1,  who  was  about  to  leave  on  Lake  Shore  train. 
I  proceeded  to  the  depot  and  boarded  Lake  Shore 
train  as  it  was  pulling  out  at  1.40  p.  m.  and  joined 
A.  V.  and  B.  F.  D.  in  the  second  coach  from  rear. 

1  saw  Subject  No.  1  in  the  coach.  He  sat  on  the  left 
side  of  car,  about  the  seventh  seat  from  the  rear. 
He  had  a  suit  case  on  the  floor  at  his  feet,  which 
he  guarded  very  closely  and  did  not  leave  his  seat 
once  until  the  train  arrived  in  Toledo,  O.,  at  7.40 
p.  m.  Leaving  the  train  with  the  suit  case,  he  en- 
tered the  waiting  room  of  the  depot,  where  he  was 
met  by  Subject  No.  2,  who,  apparently,  was  waiting 
for  him.  They  shook  hands  and  stood  talking  for 
a  moment,  then  Subject  No.  1  sat  down  on  a  bench 
and  unfolded  a  map  which  they  looked  at.  Subject 
No.  1,  with  a  lead  pencil,  was  designating  places  on 
the  map  to  No.  2,  who  was  standing  in  front  of  him. 
About  ten  minutes  later,  No.  1  and  No.  2  left  the 
depot  and  walked  up  the  street  to  the  Meyerhof 
Hotel,  where  they  registered  and  were  assigned  to 
room  No.  n.  Subject  registered  as  G.  Foster, 
Cleveland.     I  did  not  have  time  to  observe  how  No. 

2  had  registered.  Leaving  A.  V.  and  B.  F.  D.  to 
cover  the  hotel,  I  went  to  the  Union  Depot,  and 
telephoned  Manager  R.  J.  B.  at  Chicago,  and  told 
him  we  had  Subjects  No.  1  and  No.  2  under  surveil- 
lance.    R.  J.  B.  instructed  me  to  keep  them  under 


THE    MASKED    WAR  139 

surveillance;  that  he  would  get  officers  and  leave  on 
the  first  train  for  Toledo.  During  the  evening,  the 
subjects  went  to  a  show  and  returned  to  the  Meyer- 
hof  Hotel  at  11. 10  p.  m. 

"On  the  morning  of  April  12  at  4.45  a.  m.  I  met 
Manager  R.  J.  B.  with  the  detectives,  as  they  ar- 
rived at  the  Union  Depot,  Toledo.  We  proceeded 
to  a  hotel  just  this  side  of  the  Meyerhof  and  from  a 
room  on  the  third  floor  covered  the  entrance  to  the 
Meyerhof  Hotel.  A.  V.  and  B.  F.  D.  were  in  a 
room  farther  up  the  street.  All  exits  from  the 
Meyerhof  were  covered,  and  there  was  no  chance 
for  them  to  leave  unobserved.  About  8.45  a.  m. 
we  observed  subjects  in  the  lobby  of  the  Meyerhof. 
They  sat  in  rockers  at  the  window,  apparently  en- 
gaged in  earnest  conversation.  About  10  a.  m. 
they  left  the  hotel  and  started  toward  the  Union 
Depot.  No.  1  carried  suit  case.  Arriving  at  the 
Union  Depot,  Subject  No.  1  got  in  line  at  the  ticket 
window  and  purchased  two  tickets  to  Detroit. 
While  No.  1  was  buying  the  tickets,  No.  2  was  get- 
ting a  grip  at  the  news  stand,  which  evidently  he 
had  checked  there  the  day  before.  Subjects  boarded 
train  which  left  Toledo  at  10.30  a.  m.,  arriving  in 
Detroit  at  12.25  p.  m.  Subjects  carried  their  re- 
spective grips,  walked  up  the  street,  and  finally  en- 
tered the  Oxford  Hotel,  and  registered,  No.  1  as 
G.  Foster,  Cleveland,  and  No.  2  as  F.  Caldwell, 
Cleveland. 

"While  subjects  were  still  in  this  hotel,  it  was  de- 


140  THE    MASKED    WAR 

cided  not  to  wait  any  longer  in  making  the  arrest. 
Possibly  ten  minutes  after  subjects  had  entered  the 
Oxford  Hotel,  registered  and  checked  their  grips 
and  were  about  to  leave,  we  made  the  arrest,  Man- 
ager R.  J.  B.  and  Detective  Sergeant  Biddinger, 
No.  i,  and  Detective  Sergeant  Reed  and  I  taking 
No.  2  into  custody.  Subjects  were  taken  to  the 
depot,  our  intentions  being  to  bring  them  on  to  Chi- 
cago. Subject  No.  2  objected,  and  demanded  that 
he  be  taken  to  Police  Headquarters,  which  was 
done.  No.  I  was  willing  to  return,  and  he  finally 
prevailed  on  No.  2  to  sign  a  waiver  and  come  to 
Chicago.  Subjects  had  given  us  the  checks  to  their 
grips  at  the  Oxford  Hotel.  The  grips  were  taken 
to  the  Cadillac  Hotel,  Room  275,  and  there  opened 
in  the  presence  of  the  Detroit  police  officers,  and 
the  contents  examined.  The  grips  contained  clocks 
attached  to  batteries,  fuses,  wire,  two  magazine 
guns,  one  rifle  with  sound  muffler,  small  kit  of  tools, 
camera  and  numerous  other  articles.  About  11. 15 
p.  m.  we  left  Detroit  with  the  subjects.  Subjects 
wanted  to  know  what  they  were  arrested  for.  We 
told  them  they  were  wanted  for  safe  blowing. 

"En  route  Detroit  to  Chicago,  Subject  No.  2  be- 
came very  talkative.  He  said:  'You  fellows  don't 
want  me  for  safe  blowing.  Why,  I  never  cracked  a 
safe  in  my  life.  You  men  are  making  a  mistake.  I 
have  got  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  behind 
me  with  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  I  am 
another  Vincent  Altman.     They  didn't  convict  him, 


THE    MASKED    WAR  141 

did  they?  Well,  they  will  never  convict  me  if  they 
take  me  back  to  that  scabby  town  in  Cali- 
fornia.' At  one  time,  with  his  hands  clenched  and 
trembling  from  head  to  foot,  he  said:  'I  know  you 
have  got  the  goods  on  me.  I  am  going  to  die ;  yes, 
I  am  going  to  die,  but  I  will  die  a  martyr  to  Union- 
ism and  Socialism.'  He  kept  repeating:  'They 
didn't  convict  Altman,  and  you  can  never  get  12 
men  to  convict  me.'  Finally  he  said:  'You  men  have 
a  price.  How  much  do  you  want?'  He  offered  us 
$10,000,  then  $20,000,  then  $30,000  if  we  would 
take  him  and  his  partner  off  the  train  before  we  got 
into  Chicago  and  give  him  36  hours  to  reach  his 
friends.  He  called  them  'The  men  upstairs'  or 
'The  men  higher  up.'  All  this,  and  we  had  never 
said  one  word  to  them  as  to  the  real  cause  of  their 
arrest. 

"At  one  time  he  said  with  great  emotion:  'If  you 
take  me  to  Chicago  it  will  be  too  late  (meaning  to 
give  us  the  bribe  money  to  let  them  go).  There  is 
only  one  man  in  Chicago  I  am  afraid  of,  and  that  is 
W.  J.  Burns.' 


» »» 


The  two  men  were  arrested  under  their  aliases, 
and  they  were  given  to  understand  that  they  were 
wanted  as  yeggmen.  We  had  not  yet  shown  our 
hand,  and  were  not  ready  to  put  it  on  the  table  in 
the  game  until  we  had  Subjects  I,  2  and  3  safely  in 
prison  in  Los  Angeles. 

In  arresting  McManigal,  Operative  McL.  used 


142  THE    MASKED    WAR 

his  knowledge  of  events  gained  in  shadowing  him  to 
good  advantage.  McManigal  turned  on  him  and 
said:  "You  don't  know  anything  about  me." 

"Why,  I  even  know  where  you  bought  the  shoes 
you've  got  on,"  was  the  quiet  reply  of  the  operative. 

McManigal  laughed  and  asked  him  where  he  had 
bought  them. 

"At  No.  117  State  Street,  Chicago,"  said  the  op- 
erative. "They  are  Walkover  shoes,  and  you 
bought  them  on  the  evening  of  April  8." 

McManigal  was  astonished  as  he  realized  that  he 
had  been  under  the  closest  kind  of  surveillance  and 
some  of  his  confidence  was  shaken. 

"I  can  even  tell  you  what  your  wife  dreamed  the 
night  before  you  left  home,"  added  McL. 

McManigal  looked  at  him  as  if  to  challenge  the 
assertion. 

"She  dreamed  that  the  police  were  after  you,  and 
that  you  had  drawn  your  pistol,  and  that  you  had 
shot  yourself,"  McL.  told  him. 

Mrs.  McManigal  had  told  her  husband  this  just 
before  he  left  home,  and,  although  it  may  puzzle 
the  reader  to  figure  out  just  how  McL.  learned  of 
this,  it  was  simply  enough  done.  Mrs.  McManigal 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  consulting  a  fortune  teller. 
The  shadow  had  consulted  her  also.  The  fortune 
teller  had  known  of  the  mysterious  way  of  McMani- 
gal's  livelihood,  and  had  taken  a  chance  on  the  story 
of  the  police  and  McManigal.  Mrs.  McManigal, 
not  wanting  her   husband   to   know   that   she   con- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  143 

suited  fortune  tellers,  told  him  that  she  had  dreamed 
this  thing. 

McManigal  was  quick  to  realize  that  he  was  ter- 
ribly tight  in  the  grip  of  the  law.  He  was  not  slow 
to  appreciate  the  fact  that  Jim  McNamara  would 
have  behind  him  all  the  influence  his  brother  could 
command  from  the  union  forces,  and  he  saw  himself 
in  a  position  where  the  blame  for  the  whole  five 
years  of  crime  would  be  put  his  way.  His  only 
chance  of  saving  his  life  was  to  turn  State's  evi- 
dence. McManigal  is  nobody's  fool.  He  thought 
of  the  chances  of  saving  his  own  neck,  and  he 
thought  at  the  same  time  of  his  wife  and  children. 
He  had  been  the  tool  of  J.  J.  McNamara  and  the 
men  who  conspired  with  him  in  the  masked  war, 
just  as  Schmidt  and  Caplan,  the  two  Anarchists,  had 
been  used  as  tools. 

From  the  daily  reports  of  the  operatives  shadow- 
ing McManigal  I  had  a  pretty  good  idea  of  the 
make-up  of  the  man  both  as  a  dynamiter  and  as  hus- 
band and  father.  As  long  as  I  had  him  safely  away 
from  the  influence  of  J.  J.  McNamara  and  the  law- 
yers of  the  union  I  could  hope  to  exert  upon  him  an 
influence  that  would  show  him  the  advantage  of  tell- 
ing the  truth  and  the  whole  truth.  A  confession 
from  McManigal  would  mean  conviction  of  the  Mc- 
Namaras  and  the  drawing  into  the  net,  for  trial  on 
conspiracy  charges,  Ryan,  the  president  of  the  Inter- 
national, Hockin,  Tveitmoe,  Munsey,  and  the  forty 
and  more  others  who  were  J.  J.  McNamara's  aides 


144  THE    MASKED    WAR 

in  the  waging  of  the  war  with  torch  and  dynamite 
and  nitroglycerin. 

My  son  Raymond,  who  directed  the  arrests  of 
Jim  McNamara  and  McManigal,  had  taken  the  two 
men  prisoner  at  exactly  the  right  moment.  The 
plans  they  had  studied  together  on  meeting  in  To- 
ledo were  plans  showing  nonunion  jobs  in  Detroit 
which  they  had  been  sent  out  to  cripple  or  destroy. 
Their  grips  were  filled  with  the  paraphernalia  of 
their  mode  of  warfare.  Here  is  the  short  report  of 
my  son  Raymond  in  which  he  gives  the  list  of  things 
found  in  the  bags  of  the  two  prisoners. 

Manager  Raymond  J.  Burns  reports: 

At  8  p.  m.  on  the  night  of  April  nth,  191 1,  Op- 
erative McLaren  called  me  on  long-distance  phone 
from  Toledo,  O.,  and  stated  that  McManigal  had 
connected  with  J.  B.  McNamara  at  Toledo.  I  im- 
mediately got  in  touch  with  Sergeants  Reed  and  Bid- 
dinger  of  the  Chicago  Police  Department,  and  at 
11.30  p.  m.  we  left  for  Toledo,  O.,  via  Lake  Shore 
Railroad.  I  was  met  at  the  depot  in  Toledo  by 
Operative  McLaren.  We  proceeded  to  the  Park 
Hotel,  which  is  opposite  the  Meyerhof  Hotel,  where 
the  two  subjects  were  stopping,  and  watched  the  en- 
trance of  the  Meyerhof  from  a  room  on  the  third 
floor  in  the  Park  Hotel.  The  next  morning  we  ob- 
served the  subjects  sitting  in  the  lobby  of  the  Meyer- 
hof, where  they  remained  until  10  a.  m.,  then  going 
to  the  depot  and  boarding  a  train  for  Detroit,  which 


THE    MASKED    WAR  145 

train  Sergeants  Reed  and  Biddinger,  Operatives  Mc- 
Laren and  Velton  and  I  also  boarded.  On  arrival 
in  Detroit,  the  subjects  proceeded  to  the  Oxford 
Hotel,  where  they  registered,  McNamara  register- 
ing as  F.  Caldwell,  Cleveland,  and  McManigal  as 
G.  Foster,  Cleveland.  They  then  checked  their  suit 
case  and  valise.  Just  as  they  were  leaving  the  hotel, 
they  were  arrested  by  Sergeants  Reed  and  Bid- 
dinger, assisted  by  Operative  McLaren  and  myself. 
We  went  to  the  Union  Station,  but  owing  to  Mc- 
Namara's  protestations,  he  claiming  we  were  kid- 
napping them,  we  took  the  prisoners  to  the  police 
station,  where  they  were  searched  by  Lieutenant 
John  J.  Downey  and  Sergeant  Edward  Fox  of  the 
Detroit  Police  Department.  We  then  proceeded  to 
the  Cadillac  Hotel,  secured  the  grips  of  the  pris- 
oners in  the  meantime,  and  at  the  aforesaid  hotel, 
Downey  and  Fox  opened  the  suit  case  and  valise  of 
the  prisoners  with  keys  which  had  been  taken  from 
them  when  they  were  searched  at  the  police  station. 
In  the  suit  case  were  found : 

i  Winchester  rifle,  .22  caliber,  No.  125,957, 
with  Maxim  silencer  attached. 

1  automatic  .38-caliber  magazine  gun,  No. 
32,998. 

1  Eastman  Kodak,  size  3. 

1   camera  tripod. 

1   ammeter,  No.  1002. 

1   small  size  intermittent  alarm  clock. 

1  ball  of  twine. 


146  THE    MASKED    WAR 

i   kit  of  small  tools. 

i   box  of  .38  caliber  cartridges. 

1   roll  of  battery  wire. 

1   roll  of  bandage. 

1   part  box  of  .38  caliber  cartridges. 

Shirts,  collars,  ties,  stockings,  handkerchiefs 
and  pair  of  shoes. 
In  the  valise  were  found  two  dry  batteries  at- 
tached to  two  small-sized  intermittent  alarm  clocks, 
also 

3  small  size  intermittent  alarm  clocks. 

i   magazine   .32    caliber   automatic   gun,    No. 

30,760. 
1   roll  copper  wire. 

4  fuse  cups. 

4  rolls  of  insulated  copper  wire,  with  caps  at- 
tached. 

1  plain  board,  to  which  was  attached  small  in- 
termittent alarm  clock. 

1   roll  of  fuse. 

A  number  of  the  above  articles  were  marked 
for  identification  at  the  time  they  were  first 
examined  by  Downey  as  follows:  "J.  B.  D. 
2-14-1911." 

After  getting  the  two  prisoners  to  sign  waivers 
to  return  to  Chicago,  Raymond,  McLaren,  Velton 
and  Detective  Sergeants  Reed  and  Biddinger  of 
Chicago  took  their  men  to  the  Michigan  Central 
train  and  left  with  them  at  11.24  P-  m« 


THE    MASKED    WAR  147 

Arriving  in  Chicago,  we  arranged  so  that  we 
would  not  have  to  waste  time  in  fighting  habeas 
corpus  proceedings  and  other  obstacles  that  might 
be  thrown  in  our  way  by  representatives  of  the  dy- 
namiters. We  took  the  prisoners  to  the  home  of 
Sergeant  Reed  and  kept  them  there  pending  the  ar- 
rival of  extradition  papers.  This  hiding  away  of 
the  two  men  resulted  in  a  long  and  bitter  howl  of 
protest  from  thousands  of  labor  people  who  may 
have  believed  that  the  McNamaras  were  innocent. 
The  indictment  for  kidnapping  brought  against  me 
later  came  to  nothing,  of  course,  for  there  was  no 
kidnapping.  We  had  warrants  for  the  arrest  of  the 
men,  and  all  the  time  they  were  in  custody  of  Chi- 
cago detectives  in  the  home  of  one  of  them. 

Having  Jim  McNamara  and  McManigal  safely 
tucked  away  in  a  corner  of  Chicago's  suburbs  we 
then  began  to  arrange  for  quick  extradition  to  Los 
Angeles.  We  wanted  extradition  papers  for  three 
men,  for  we  were  ready  to  walk  into  the  office  of 
the  International  Union  in  Indianapolis  and  take  the 
secretary-treasurer  from  his  desk  that  he  might  face 
the  law  and  answer  for  his  big  share  in  the  years  of 
ruthless  murder  and  destruction. 


CHAPTER    XXII 

MCMANIGAL  DECIDES  TO  CONFESS 

With  the  two  prisoners  hidden  away  in  Reed's 
house  in  Chicago,  and  with  every  man  in  the  captur- 
ing party  bound  to  secrecy,  there  remained  three 
vastly  important  things  to  be  accomplished.  One 
was  the  securing  of  the  confession  of  McManigal. 
Another  matter  of  big  importance  was  the  task  of 
keeping  secret  in  Los  Angeles  the  fact  of  the  ar- 
rests until  we  had  our  prisoners  safely  in  jail  there. 
The  third  matter  was  the  arrest  of  J.  J.  McNamara 
and  his  speedy  extradition  so  that  we  could  begin 
the  journey  to  the  Coast  with  the  three  men  and 
without  fear  of  being  tied  up  by  legal  proceedings  in 
any  of  the  States  we  would  pass  through. 

I  devised  a  plan  for  bringing  this  about,  and  laid 
out  such  a  devious  journey  from  Indianapolis  and 
Chicago  to  the  Coast  that  I  felt  sure  the  foxiest  of 
lawyers  would  not  be  able  to  catch  up  with  us. 

To  get  things  started  quickly  in  Los  Angeles  we 
wired  from  our  Chicago  office  on  the  day  of  our  ar- 
rival from  Detroit  with  the  two  prisoners  this 
message : 

148 


THE    MASKED    WAR  149 

"We  have  under  arrest  and  hidden  away  here 
Bryce  and  John  Doe,  who  did  Llewellyn  job.  Have 
police  department  proceed  immediately  to  Sacra- 
mento, get  requisition  papers  on  Illinois,  and  come 
here  quick  as  possible.  We  won't  let  arrest  be 
known  here  until  officers  arrive  with  papers  or  they 
would  spend  hundred  thousand  dollars  on  habeas 
corpus  proceedings,  and  all  sorts  of  trouble;  they 
offered  us  $30,000  to  release  them.  We  want  to 
send  back  two  of  our  men  and  two  Chicago  depart- 
ment men  with  the  two  men  you  will  send.  It  is  of 
utmost  importance  you  carry  out  this  exactly  as  I 
suggest.    Keep  me  posted." 

The  Chicago  office  followed  this  with  another 
telegram  to  the  Los  Angeles  office,  telling  the  man- 
ager to  get  his  chief  aides  about  him  to  receive 
further  details  in  our  code,  the  same  to  be  held  in 
strictest  confidence.  In  the  translation  of  this  mes- 
sage "B."  stands  for  Bryce,  one  of  Jim  McNa- 
mara's  aliases,  and  "M."  represents  McManigal. 
The  message  follows: 

"Captured  with  B.  and  M.  twelve  clock  devices 
exactly  as  that  found  at  Los  Angeles,  all  complete 
with  fuse  attached.  M.  states  he  has  been  working 
with  B.  under  direction  of  secretary  named  above; 
was  present  in  June,  19 10,  when  secretary  gave  final 
instructions  to  B.,  when  he  left  for  Coast.  M.  ac- 
companied him  far  as  Chicago  from  Indianapolis. 


150  THE    MASKED    WAR 

B.  told  M.  they  were  going  make  big  clean-up  at 
Los  Angeles,  that  there  was  plenty  of  money  put  up. 
After  B.  reached  Coast  secretary  told  M.  he  re- 
ceived letter  from  B.  from  Frisco  in  which  B.  said: 
'It  now  reads  Times  for  News;  it  will  read  news 
for  the  Times.'  When  M.  read  of  Los  Angeles 
matter  he  went  to  Indianapolis  to  see  secretary. 
Latter  said:  ' ,  see  what  those  fel- 
lows are  doing  out  there!'  M.  said:  'I  wonder  if 
that  is  our  fellow.'  Secretary  replied:  'It  was  the 
Times  they  wanted  and  got;  by  God!  that  ought  to 
make  them  come  across.'  Secretary  then  directed 
M.  not  to  come  to  his  office  too  much,  was  badly 
frightened  and  was  very  nervous.  He  directed  M. 
to  return  to  Chicago  and  keep  under  cover.  When 
B.  returned  to  Chicago  from  Coast  secretary  had  M. 
take  B.  hunting  in  Wisconsin.  There  B.  told  M.  all 
details  of  Los  Angeles  matter,  also  told  M.  he  re- 
ported at  Frisco  to  Tveitmoe  and  he  introduced  B. 
to  other  two  fugitives.  Later  T.  attended  conven- 
tion at  St.  Louis,  met  secretary,  and  told  him  send 
wreckers  back  to  get  Times  auxiliary  plant,  Baker 
and  Llewellyn  iron  works  for  Christmas  present. 
Secretary  then  directed  M.  to  proceed  to  Los  An- 
geles. He  carried  with  him  twelve  quarts  of  stuff, 
ten-quart  can  and  two  quarts  in  valise.  This  was 
furnished  him  by  secretary,  also  money  for  trip. 
On  arrival  he  investigated  places,  but  was  afraid  to 
carry  out  program,  and  only  did  what  you  know  of, 
then  went  to   Frisco,  met   Clancy  of   Frisco   Iron 


THE    MASKED    WAR  151 

Workers  Union,  and  told  him  to  tell  T.  Christmas 
present  had  been  delivered.  If  this  is  sufficient  in- 
formation wire,  and,  for  God's  sake,  don't  let  a 
word  leak  out  until  officers  land  here  with  papers. 
It  looks  good." 

This  was  sufficient  information  to  get  the  war- 
rants and  requisition  papers  for  the  two  men  ar- 
rested and  for  J.  J.  McNamara,  whom  I  was  soon 
to  arrest  in  his  office  in  Indianapolis. 

Then  came  the  long  wait  for  the  arrival  of  the 
sheriff,  police  officers  and  a  representative  of  the 
Los  Angeles  District  Attorney.  For  a  little  over  a 
week  we  kept  our  two  prisoners  in  Detective  Ser- 
geant Reed's  house,  and  the  Detroit  explosions  that 
the  crowd  at  Indianapolis  headquarters  were  wait- 
ing and  listening  for  never  came  off. 

The  right  moment  to  arrest  J.  J.  McNamara 
would  be  when  the  Los  Angeles  officers  and  the 
requisition  papers  were  at  hand.  I  waited,  and,  in 
the  meanwhile,  talked  with  McManigal,  whose  con- 
fession was  to  put  in  our  hands  a  mass  of  informa- 
tion of  the  most  astounding  sort,  every  bit  of  which 
could  be  and  was  amply  verified. 

McManigal  is  a  man  of  medium  height,  rather 
dark  complexioned,  powerfully  built  and  a  type  of 
citizen  most  men  would  hesitate  to  anger.  His  fore- 
head is  deeply  indented,  and  carries  a  heavy,  ragged 
scar  made  by  a  fall  he  had  when  a  boy.  He  is  pleas- 
ant in  his  address,  and  his  English  is  good,  although 


152  THE    MASKED    WAR 

he  never  got  beyond  the  public  schools  and  always 
traveled  with  uneducated  people. 

Preying  on  his  mind  all  the  time  was  the  thought 
of  his  wife  and  children  and  their  fate.  He  was 
genuinely  disturbed  about  them,  and  had  he  been  a 
single  man  I  doubt  whether  he  would  have  made  the 
confession. 

I  repaired  to  the  home  of  Sergeant  William  Reed, 
and  when  I  entered  the  room  where  J.  B.  McNa- 
mara  was  sitting,  I  said  to  him,  as  I  have  always 
said  to  every  man  who  has  ever  been  taken  into 
custody  and  with  whom  I  have  had  anything  to  do, 
that  I  wanted  to  notify  him  of  his  rights.  I  had 
previously  notified  our  men  not  to  discuss  the  case 
with  J.  B.  McNamara  or  McManigal  until  my  ar- 
rival. I  notified  J.  B.  McNamara  of  his  rights,  and 
stated:  "I  am  not  an  officer  of  any  kind — merely  a 
private  detective;  I  suppose  you  know  who  I  am?" 
I  then  told  him  my  name.  He  promptly  stated  that 
he  knew  all  about  me,  and  knew  I  was  on  the  level, 
and  that  I  had  that  reputation;  that  he  appreciated 
the  warning  I  had  given  him.  I  further  added: 
"We  expect  to  put  you  on  trial  for  murder  in  the 
first  degree,  and  try  you  for  that,  and  it  would  not 
be  fair  to  attempt  to  get  a  confession  or  any  in- 
criminating statements  from  you,  and  I  have  issued 
positive  instructions  that  the  men  here  present  with 
you,  and  who  have  you  under  guard,  shall  not  dis- 
cuss your  case  with  you,  or  discuss  any  phase  of  it." 

I  then  entered  the  room  where  Ortie  McManigal 


THE    MASKED    WAR  153 

was  confined,  and  warned  him  of  his  rights  in  the 
same  way,  but  I  immediately  laid  before  McMani- 
gal  all  the  facts  in  our  possession  and  detailed  his 
movements  from  time  to  time,  and  McManigal  was 
utterly  astounded  and  dumfounded,  and  especially 
when  I  told  him  that  the  men  he  met  in  the  Wiscon- 
sin woods  on  his  hunting  expedition  were  Burns  de- 
tectives. Not  only  that,  he  was  greatly  disturbed 
when  I  informed  him  that  we  had  his  house  under 
surveillance  for  a  number  of  months.  I  also  de- 
tailed his  movements  on  the  occasion  when  he  and 
J.  B.  McNamara  carried  the  two  bundles  of  dyna- 
mite to  a  place  in  Chicago,  and  which  was  subse- 
quently exploded  at  that  point.  I  also  detailed  a 
number  of  features  at  Indianapolis  which  indicated 
to  him  that  there  was  not  a  move  made  by  him  that 
we  were  not  thoroughly  conversant  with.  I  was 
able  to  conjecture  perfectly  his  movements  which 
we  had  not  covered,  but  which  I  was  enabled  to  de- 
termine from  a  study  of  the  case. 

Finally,  as  a  last  and  telling  stroke,  I  said  to  him : 
"Perhaps  you  feel  that  because  you  did  not  accom- 
pany J.  B.  McNamara  to  Los  Angeles  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  blowing  up  the  Times  that  you  are  in  no 
way  responsible  for  his  act?  On  the  other  hand, 
when  I  explain  the  law  of  conspiracy  you  will  find 
that  you  were  equally  as  responsible,  though  you 
were  not  there  at  the  time."  I  then  explained  that 
he,  J.  J.  McNamara  and  J.  B.  McNamara  and 
others  were  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  to  destroy  life 


154  THE    MASKED    WAR 

and  property,  with  a  view  of  bringing  about  certain 
results;  that,  in  furtherance  of  that  project,  he  and 
J.  B.  McNamara  had  many,  many  times  caused  ex- 
plosions which  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  prop- 
erty. I  then  closed  by  stating  that  if,  after  listening 
to  the  evidence  which  we  proposed  to  submit  against 
him,  he  felt  that  he  wanted  to  right  the  wrong  he 
had  committed,  in  so  far  as  he  was  then  able,  and  if 
he  desired  to  show  a  disposition  to  lead  a  different 
life,  that  I  would  be  glad  to  hear  his  statement,  but 
that  I  wanted  it  distinctly  understood  he  must  do  so 
without  any  promises  of  reward  or  immunity;  that 
even  if  I  were  so  disposed,  I  had  no  power  what- 
ever to  make  any  such  promises,  and  that  he  must 
take  his  chances. 

I  was  greatly  impressed  with  the  attitude  of  Mc- 
Manigal,  as  there  was  indicated  in  his  every  act  a 
thorough  earnestness  in  wanting  to  aid  the  prosecu- 
tion and  right  the  wrong  he  had  done  so  far  as  he 
was  able.  He  said  that  he  would  be  perfectly  will- 
ing to  make  a  full  confession,  and  aid  us  in  every 
way  he  possibly  could.  And  be  it  said,  to  the  ever- 
lasting credit  of  Ortie  McManigal,  that  he  more 
than  made  good,  for  if  ever  a  human  being  was 
crucified,  and  if  ever  an  effort  was  made,  through 
the  most  audacious  and  murderous  methods,  it  was 
made  by  those  who  were  concerned  in  this  whole- 
sale murder,  and  who  are  willing  to  take  every 
chance  to  turn  McManigal  back  or  else  still  his 
voice  forever! 


THE    MASKED    WAR  155 

After  making  these  statements  to  McManigal,  I 
then  said  to  him:  "Now,  don't  answer  me  offhand, 
but  think  it  over.  It's  a  serious  matter  and  will  be 
a  serious  matter  to  you.  So  think  it  over  carefully 
from  every  viewpoint,  and  if  you  have  an  attorney 
who  is  a  friend  of  yours,  and  who  would  advise  you 
wholly  in  your  own  interest,  I  would  be  glad  to  send 
for  him.  In  the  meantime,  if  you  care  to  see  me 
let  me  know."  I  then  left  him  and  returned  to  my 
office  in  Chicago.  On  my  reaching  the  office  I  was 
notified  that  word  had  been  telephoned  in  that  Mc- 
Manigal was  asking  for  me.  I  sent  out  word  to  tell 
him  that  I  would  be  there.  Within  an  hour  another 
telephone  message  came,  saying:  "McManigal 
wants  to  see  you,  and  it  is  very  urgent." 

"Tell  him  I  will  be  there,"  I  replied.  Within  an- 
other  hour  another  message  came,  until  about  four 
of  those  messages  were  received,  and  then  I  repaired 
to  the  home  of  Detective  Sergeant  Reed,  and  I 
found  McManigal  in  an  extremely  receptive  mood. 

My  purpose  in  delaying  my  visit  was  to  permit 
him  to  reach  that  frame  of  mind  where  he  would  not 
halt  when  he  reached  the  high  places  of  his  confes- 
sion, but  would  tell  it  all,  which  he  did.  I  had  my 
stenographer  take  it  and  write  it  out,  and  I  then 
sent  for  a  notary  public,  and  he  signed  it  and  swore 
to  it. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 


mcmanigal's  start  as  a  dynamiter 


After  saying  that  he  was  thirty-seven  years  old 
and  that  he  was  born  in  Bloomville,  O.,  near  the 
town  of  Tiffin,  McManigal  swore  that  he  served  in 
the  Spanish  War  with  an  Ohio  regiment.  After 
being  mustered  out  he  worked  in  stone  quarries  and 
there  got  his  experience  in  handling  explosives.  He 
finally  joined  the  Structural  Iron  Workers,  and 
work  being  slack  left  his  family  in  Chicago  while  he 
hunted  a  job  in  Detroit. 

McManigal's  confession  follows: 

"While  I  was  at  Detroit,  I  was  first  spoken  to 
relative  to  the  wrecking  matters.  I  had  a  talk  with 
the  local  executive  board  at  Detroit,  the  members 
of  which  were  two  men  whose  names  I  don't  know, 
and  H.  S.  Hockin.  Hockin  seemed  to  be  the  spokes- 
man. He  asked  me  to  blow  up  a  job  at  Detroit — 
an  office  building — being  erected  by  a  local  firm  in 
Detroit — a  nonunion  job.  They  agreed  at  this 
time  to  give  me  $75.  Arrangements  for  this  job 
were  all  made  in  the  local  hall,  and  dynamite  was 
the  explosive  used.    Hockin  told  me  to  go  to  a  stone 

156 


THE    MASKED   WAR  157 

quarry  along  the  river  in  Detroit,  but  we  were  un- 
able to  secure  the  dynamite  there.  I  knew  of  a 
quarry  at  Bloomville,  Ohio,  went  down  there  alone, 
and  bought  the  dynamite  of  the  man  in  charge  of 
the  stone  quarry,  which  was  the  E.  H.  France  &  Son 
quarry.  I  purchased  thirty  pounds;  the  man  did  not 
ask  me  what  I  wanted  it  for  nor  did  I  volunteer  to 
tell  him.  I  returned  to  Detroit  and  exploded  it  with 
a  fuse  one  night.  During  this  time  I  continued 
working  on  the  Oscar  Daniels  job  in  Detroit.  I 
never  went  back  to  see  the  results  of  this  explosion. 
All  the  members  of  the  local  executive  board  were 
present  and  participated  in  the  arrangements  for 
these  explosions. 

"I  next  went  to  Clinton,  Iowa,  where  I  did  a  job. 
Hockin  got  me  to  do  this.  He  was  then  a  member 
of  the  Executive  Board  of  the  International  Bridge 
and  Structural  Iron  Workers'  Union.  He  was 
known  as  'The  Organizer.'  On  this  job  I  was 
given  the  double  cross  by  Hockin,  as  I  afterward 
learned.  It  appears  that  there  was  a  certain  amount 
set  aside  to  do  this  work  by  the  Executive  Board  of 
the  International  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron  Work- 
ers. I  blew  up  the  derrick  car,  using  dynamite 
which  I  procured  at  Ohio.  I  did  this  job  alone.  I 
exploded  it  with  a  fuse.  I  found  out  that  Hockin 
held  back  part  of  the  money  due  me  for  this  job. 
Just  prior  to  this,  I  was  acting  as  foreman  of  the 
J.  T.  Ryerson  plant,  in  the  employment  of  Charles 
Volkman  &  Co.    Hockin  came  and  took  me  off  this 


158  THE    MASKED   WAR 

job.  Volkman's  office  was  at  122  Dearborn  Street, 
room  22.    This  was  about  the  spring  of  1907. 

"There  was  quite  a  lapse  between  this  job  at  Clin- 
ton, and  the  next  one  I  did,  which  was  at  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  a  railroad  bridge  which  spanned  some  other 
railroad  tracks.  This  also  was  engineered  by 
Hockin.  I  was  supposed  to  get  $200  and  expenses, 
but  was  only  paid  $125  and  expenses.  I  demurred 
to  doing  this  for  such  a  small  sum.  I  did  this  job 
alone. 

"On  my  second  trip  to  Bloomville,  Ohio,  I  pur- 
chased 100  pounds  of  dynamite,  taking  it  to  Chi- 
cago and  hiding  it  in  a  lot  near  where  I  now  live. 

"Hockin  met  me  in  Buffalo  the  day  before  the 
job  was  pulled  off  there,  and  we  looked  same  over, 
and  he  suggested  how  I  should  do  it.  In  the  mean- 
time, it  must  be  understood  that  while  I  was  doing 
this  work,  I  continued  at  my  legitimate  work. 

"I  first  met  J.  J.  McNamara  when  I  went  from 
Detroit  to  Indianapolis  to  go  to  work  on  the  Pa- 
vilion there  at  the  State  Fair  Grounds.  I  was  still 
under  instructions  of  Hockin  and  carried  on  these 
jobs  leading  up  to  the  Buffalo  job.  I  worked  for  a 
while  at  North  Evanston  on  a  job  putting  in  foun- 
dations for  the  National  Construction  Co.,  under  the 
subcontract  of  Charles  Volkman  &  Co.  During  that 
time  Hockin  paid  me  a  visit.  He  said:  'If  I  send 
you  a  man  up  here  with  some  soup  (meaning  dyna- 
mite) could  you  use  it?'  I  said:  'I  don't  know.'  I 
continued:  'But  I  would  throw  it  into  the  concrete 


THE    MASKED    WAR  159 

and    let   become    of    it    what   would.'      However, 
Hockin  never  sent  it. 

"About  this  time  I  got  connected  up  with  a  couple 
of  fellows  named  Jim  Hill  and  Warneke.  I  think 
the  latter  was  a  teamster.  He  wore  a  teamster's 
button  on  his  coat.  I  had  known  Hill  for  some 
time  previous  to  this.  I  was  arrested,  charged  with 
participating  in  the  theft  of  some  tools  which  Hill 
and  Warneke  stole.  After  serving  1 1  days  of  a 
30-day  sentence,  I  was  turned  loose  again  in 
June,    19 10. 

"I  then  started  to  work  for  J.  P.  Costello  of  Chi- 
cago, steel  erectors,  and  while  working  for  this  firm 
Hockin  paid  several  visits  to  my  house.  He  sent 
J.  B.  McNamara  to  my  house  on  a  job  I  was  work- 
ing on  at  Madison  near  Western  Avenue.  I  had 
met  this  fellow  previously  at  Muncie,  Indiana.  I 
was  introduced  to  him  by  Hockin. 

"While  here,  Hockin  purchased  some  nitro- 
glycerin— 180  quarts — out  in  the  country,  of  some 
fellow  who  drove  up  and  met  him  there  with  a 
wagon,  and  the  stuff  was  changed  in  boxes  from  the 
seller's  wagon  to  one  Hockin  had.  This  exchange 
was  made  in  the  country  near  Muncie,  Indiana,  it 
being  delivered  in  a  regular  nitroglycerin  wagon. 
Hockin  made  all  arrangements  for  this  purchase. 
We  met  this  wagon  five  or  six  miles  from  Muncie, 
in  a  northeast  direction.  Hockin  paid  for  this.  I 
took  it  to  Muncie  and  stored  it  in  a  house  there  on 
an  off  street,  which  Hockin  had  sent  me  to  rent  for 


160  THE   MASKED   WAR 

this  purpose.  I  paid  the  rent  to  the  proprietor  of 
this  house,  but  don't  know  his  name.  He  had  a  real 
estate  office  there,  and  is  a  prominent  real  estate 
man.  The  rent  was  paid  up  until  March,  1909,  $7 
per  month,  for  a  period  of  five  months.  This  all 
happened  before  I  went  to  jail  in  Chicago.  While 
in  jail  awaiting  trial,  I  was  told  by  J.  B.  McNamara 
that  he  carried  64  quarts  of  the  stuff  to  Rochester, 
Pa.  (I  am  not  sure  this  is  the  name  of  the  place 
the  nitroglycerin  was  taken.)  It  was  buried  there 
under  an  old  building  and  cooper  shop. 

"In  the  meantime  I  was  released  on  bond  and 
started  to  work  for  Costello  again.  While  working 
for  him  at  Madison  and  near  Western  Avenue, 
Hockin  came  to  me  and  said  he  was  sending  a  man 
to  me  with  a  new  invention  and  he  would  show  me 
how  to  use  it.  J.  B.  McNamara  called  on  me  while 
I  was  working  at  Madison  and  near  Western  Ave- 
nue, and  told  me  he  would  call  at  my  house  that 
evening  and  explain  things  to  me.  He  called  alone 
and  showed  me  the  machine.  This  was  a  clock  and 
battery  arranged  apparatus  on  a  board,  connected 
together  so  that  it  would  form  a  circuit  by  soldering 
the  piece  of  copper  on  the  key  to  the  alarm  of  the 
clock.  He  told  me  to  set  it  at  any  hour  and  raise 
the  lever  and  then  connect  the  wires,  he  having  in- 
dicated places  by  marks,  and  that  by  putting  the  cap 
in  this  way  it  would,  at  the  proper  hour,  when  the 
alarm  would  go  off,  come  down,  make  a  connection, 
form  a  circuit,  make  a  spark,  and  cause  the  explo- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  161 

sion.    Hockin  told  me  this  was  a  new  invention,  and 
J.  B.  McNamara  said  he  invented  it  himself. 

"I  received  a  telegram  from  Hockin  instructing 
me  to  meet  him  at  Indianapolis  on  a  Saturday  at 
3.00  p.  m.,  but  being  delayed,  I  did  not  arrive  until 
12  midnight.  I  met  him  at  the  Lorraine  Hotel, 
and  also  met  J.  J.  McNamara  there.  We  went  to 
McNamara's  office,  and  when  we  sat  down,  Hockin 
said:  'We  have  a  job  we  want  you  to  do  at  Mt. 
Vernon,  111.  It  is  a  hoisting  car  belonging  to  Mc- 
Clintic-Marshall  Co.'  He  said  he  wanted  that 
blown  up,  also  another  hoisting  engine  in  the  yard. 
At  this  time,  McClintic-Marshall  was  constructing 
something  there  (I  don't  remember  what  it  was)  ; 
it  was  a  new  building  of  some  sort.  Nothing  was 
said  about  what  I  was  to  be  paid,  except  that  Hockin 
advanced  me  $25  for  expenses.  Hockin  arranged  a 
train  schedule  for  me,  same  being  to  go  from  In- 
dianapolis to  St.  Louis,  then  back  to  Mt.  Vernon, 
111.,  then  by  way  of  Evanston  into  Chicago.  He 
had  the  stuff  in  a  suit  case  in  Indianapolis.  There 
were  two  four-quart  cans,  two  clocks  and  everything 
arranged  and  made  up.  The  cans  were  packed  in 
sawdust,  and  there  was  some  paper  put  in  the  suit 
case  to  keep  the  sawdust  from  coming  out." 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

MCMANIGAL  CHEATED  ON  PAY  ROLL 

All  this  time  J.  J.  McNamara  was  drawing  $200 
checks  in  payment  for  each  explosion,  and  Hockin 
was  holding  back  $75  on  each,  grafting  both  on  the 
union  and  the  hired  dynamiter.  McManigal  tells 
how  he  found  out  that  he  was  being  double-crossed. 
His  confession  continues : 

"I  went  to  Mt.  Vernon  as  per  the  arranged 
schedule  and  found  there  was  a  watchman  on  the 
job.  I  tried  for  two  nights  to  coax  him  away,  but 
he  did  not  seem  anxious  to  come  away.  I  decided 
that  by  causing  some  excitement  in  the  lower  yards, 
he  would  get  off  the  cars  to  investigate,  and  while 
he  was  gone,  the  other  one  would  go  off  there. 
Hockin  suggested  that  I  carry  this  second  charge, 
so  as  to  set  it  off  at  some  distance  from  the  car, 
which  would  attract  the  watchman's  attention.  He 
knew  the  watchman  was  there.  He  instructed  me 
first  to  endeavor  to  get  the  watchman  to  go  away, 
and  if  I  could  not  do  that  to  set  the  first  one  off  at 
some  distance.  I  set  off  the  first  charge  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  railroad  yard  under  a  hoisting  engine 

162 


THE    MASKED    WAR  163 

belonging  to  the  McClintic-Marshall  Co.,  I  think. 
I  then  set  the  second  charge  in  a  suit  case  under  the 
other  car.  I  set  the  clocks  for  the  hoisting  engine 
to  go  off  first.  As  I  expected,  the  watchman  left 
the  car,  went  to  investigate,  and  while  he  was  gone, 
the  second  explosion  occurred.  I  arranged  it  so  that 
they  would  go  off  about  five  minutes  apart.  I  then 
returned  to  Chicago,  Hockin  subsequently  met  me 
at  my  home  in  Chicago  and  paid  me  $125.  J.  B. 
McNamara  was  at  my  house  and  present  at  the  time 
Hockin  called  and  paid  me,  but  McNamara  did  not 
see  Hockin  pay  me,  as  the  latter  took  me  out  in  the 
kitchen  and  there  gave  me  the  money.  No  one  was 
at  home  but  we  three. 

"I  then  served  my  jail  sentence,  and  immediately 
after  reaching  home  on  my  release,  I  received  a 
wire  from  Hockin  instructing  me  to  meet  him  at 
Cincinnati,  calling  at  the  post  office,  where  I  would 
receive  a  letter  at  the  general  delivery,  which  would 
say  just  where  to  meet  him.  I  called  as  directed, 
received  the  letter,  and  it  said  for  me  to  meet  him  at 
the  corner  of  the  post  office  there  at  such  and  such 
a  time,  which  I  did.  I  also  met  J.  B.  McNamara 
with  him.  They  boarded  a  street  car  and  rode 
somewhere  in  the  suburbs,  where  we  lay  under  some 
shade  trees  and  discussed  the  work  to  be  done. 
Hockin  directed  us  both  to  go  to  Indianapolis,  and 
get  some  nitroglycerin  and  clocks  which  J.  B.  Mc- 
Namara had  already  prepared.  I  remained  over 
night  in  Cincinnati  at  the  McAvoy  Hotel   (I  think 


164  THE    MASKED    WAR 

that  was  the  name  of  the  hotel).  It  is  in  the  busi- 
ness section  of  the  town.  McNamara  went  home. 
I  may  have  registered  there  under  my  own  name. 
I  met  J.  B.  McNamara  the  next  morning  at  the 
Grand  Central  station,  and  we  took  the  Big  Four 
train  to  Indianapolis.  En  route,  the  conversation 
drifted  from  one  thing  to  another — the  work  we 
were  engaged  upon,  and  so  forth.  We  had  instruc- 
tions to  go  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  which  instructions 
we  had  received  from  Hockin  at  Cincinnati.  His 
instructions  were  as  follows:  'Go  back  to  Indian- 
apolis and  from  there  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  taking 
with  you  the  nitroglycerin  and  clocks,'  which  J.  B. 
McNamara  had  already  prepared. 

"During  the  conversation  en  route,  J.  B.  McNa- 
mara said,  'That  will  be  two  apiece.'  I  said,  'What 
do  you  mean?'  He  said,  'Two  hundred.'  I  said, 
'No.'  He  said,  'Why  isn't  it?  Two  for  you  and 
two  for  me.'  'On  the  same  job?'  I  asked.  He  an- 
swered, 'Yes,  certainly.'  I  said,  'Do  you  mean  to 
tell  me  that  you  get  $200  for  every  job  you  do?' 
'Why,  certainly,'  he  said,  'and  expenses.'  I  later 
ascertained  that  he  was  getting  his  money  from  J. 
J.  McNamara  because  he  (J.  B.  McNamara)  was 
on  the  inside  and  knew  what  was  being  set  aside  for 
that  purpose.  It  was  being  set  aside  by  the  Execu- 
tive Board.  J.  B.  McNamara  then  said,  'Don't  you 
get  that?'  I  said,  'No;  I  only  get  $125  and  ex- 
penses.' He  said,  'You  got  $200  for  the  Mt. 
Vernon  job,  didn't  you?'     I  said,  'No;  I  did  not.' 


THE    MASKED    WAR  165 

We  argued  about  this  a  moment,  and  he  said,  'Yes, 
because  I  seen  the  stub,  and  it  called  for  $235/  I 
said,  'No;  you  were  up  at  the  house  when  that  fel- 
low paid  me,  and  he  gave  me  $125  there  and  my 
expenses  were  $25,  which  made  $150.'  He  said,  'I 
thought  there  was  something  wrong  when  he  called 
you  in  the  kitchen  and  handed  you  the  money.  You 
have  been  double-crossed.'  I  said  to  him,  Tm  not 
going  any  further;  I'm  done.'  This  was  en  route 
from  Cincinnati  to  Indianapolis.  On  arrival  in  In- 
dianapolis, we  went  to  the  office  of  J.  J.  McNamara, 
where  we  had  two  valises  which  had  been  packed. 
We  arrived  there  during  the  afternoon  about  3 
o'clock,  and  found  J.  J.  McNamara  in  his  office. 
J.  B.  McNamara  said  to  me  on  the  train,  'You  leave 
it  to  me — I  will  tell  that  fellow'  (meaning  of  course 
his  brother) .  When  we  arrived  at  the  office,  he  took 
up  the  matter  with  J.  J.  McNamara,  saying,  'This 
fellow  has  been  double-crossed  (meaning  me)  and 
is  pretty  damn  sore  about  it.  He  claims  he  has 
$475  due  him.'  J.  J.  McNamara  asked  for  an  ex- 
planation, which  I  gave  him.  I  explained  I  only  got 
$125  for  the  Mt.  Vernon  job.  He  looked  it  up 
and  found  a  stub  for  $235,  the  check  being  made 
out  in  his  own  name  for  $235.  He  then  showed  me 
the  stubs  for  each  of  the  cases,  all  running  from 
$200  up.  He  said,  'By  God!  This  thing  will  never 
be  carried  on  like  this.'  I  said,  'I  got  to  have  just 
as  much  money  as  the  next  man,  or  there  will  be 
nothing  stirring.'     He  told  me  to  go  ahead,  and  he 


1 66  THE    MASKED    WAR 

would  take  care  of  my  affairs.  With  this  assurance 
from  J.  J.  McNamara,  I  concluded  to  go  ahead 
with  the  work.  J.  B.  McNamara  and  I  proceeded 
to  Cleveland  via  Big  Four  R.  R.  We  arrived  in 
Cleveland  about  midnight  or  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  went  to  some  hotel,  about  two  blocks 
from  the  depot,  right  across  the  street  from  a  fire 
department  house.  We  both  registered  there;  I 
don't  remember  the  names;  remained  that  night  and 
the  next  day  we  located  the  job  'way  up  along  the 
valley;  some  viaduct  job  of  the  McClintic-Marshall 
Co.  We  arrived  there  during  the  forenoon  and 
found  it  was  pretty  well  guarded.  We  noticed  a 
number  of  shanties  which  were  probably  used  by 
watchmen,  and  that  night  returned  with  our  valises 
and  located  nine  or  ten  watchmen.  I  told  J.  B.  Mc- 
Namara it  looked  like  suicide  to  me.  The  follow- 
ing night  we  carried  the  stuff  out  there,  taking  four 
cans  wrapped  up  in  paper,  and  he  arranged  the  set- 
ting of  the  clocks,  putting  all  the  stuff  together  un- 
der one  pile,  and  the  clocks  together.  In  order  to 
get  to  the  place  where  he  wished  to  set  it,  we  had 
to  pass  by  buildings  where  there  were  watchmen, 
but  we  succeeded  in  getting  by  and  in  getting  to  the 
place  where  J.  B.  McNamara  concluded  to  set  the 
explosive.  He  put  them  all  together,  so  that  if  one 
missed,  the  other  would  hit.  We  then  got  away, 
and  the  explosion  took  place  a  couple  of  hours  later. 
I  went  to  the  depot  and  boarded  a  train  for  Toledo, 
stopping  at  the  Park  Hotel,  where  I  registered  un- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  167 

der  my  correct  name.     I  read  of  the  explosion  the 
next  morning  in  the  papers. 

"When  leaving  Cincinnati,  Hockin  told  me  he 
would  be  in  Toledo  at  the  St.  Claire  Hotel  and  said 
for  me  to  come  there  and  call  for  him,  which  I  did. 
I  had  been  instructed  by  J.  J.  McNamara  not  to 
mention  anything  to  Hockin  about  this  double- 
crossing  business  until  he  took  the  matter  up  with 
him.  I  went  to  the  hotel,  and  he  made  arrange- 
ments to  meet  me  at  the  Terminal  Station  at  a  cer- 
tain time.  He  gave  me  $100  there,  and  told  me 
we  (meaning  J.  B.  McNamara  and  myself)  should 
go  to  Detroit  and  look  over  the  new  depot  and  tun- 
nels. We  did  as  directed,  and  looked  over  the 
work,  but  I  did  not  like  it,  because  I  was  afraid  we 
could  not  accomplish  what  Hockin  wanted  us  to  do, 
viz. :  put  a  load  of  dynamite  under  any  of  the  der- 
rick cars.  I  was  satisfied  that  this  could  not  be 
done,  because  there  would  be  too  many  watchmen 
there.  J.  B.  McNamara  went  to  the  post  office  and 
received  a  letter  instructing  him  to  send  the  Chicago 
man  back  to  Chicago  and  wait  further  orders,  and 
he  should  return  to  Indianapolis.  It  must  have  been 
that  J.  J.  McNamara  had  taken  the  matter  of  the 
double-crossing  up  with  Hockin.  When  he  finished 
reading  the  letter,  I  went  to  Indianapolis,  and  sub- 
sequently J.  B.  McNamara  told  me  he  left  the  fol- 
lowing day.  The  explosion  at  Cleveland  took  place 
on  June  21st,  1910.  On  June  27th,  1910,  I  received 
$100  from  Hockin  at  Toledo,  Ohio. 


1 68  THE    MASKED    WAR 

"On  July  8,  1 910,  I  blew  the  Phoenix  Bridge  Co. 
work  of  Jersey  City,  N.  J.  I  did  this  work  alone. 
J.  J.  McNamara  sent  me  there.  On  this  occasion 
I  received  my  first  money  from  J.  J.  McNamara — 
$200,  and  my  expenses.  He  paid  me  at  his  office 
in  Indianapolis,  and  said:  'There'll  be  no  double- 
crossing  or  holding  out  by  me.  What  you  are  en- 
titled to  you  will  get.' 

"Between  June  27th  and  July  8th,  19 10,  I  re- 
ceived a  telegram  at  Chicago  from  J.  J.  McNamara 
(I  don't  think  it  was  signed  by  that  name,  but  I 
knew  it  was  from  him,  as  I  had  an  understanding 
with  him,  previously  arranged  at  Indianapolis,  that 
any  time  I  received  a  telegram  from  Indianapolis  I 
should  know  it  was  from  him  and  should  destroy  it 
at  once  to  leave  no  evidence).  I  received  instruc- 
tions to  go  to  New  York,  at  which  time  he  gave 
me  the  nitroglycerin  in  a  suit  case  all  ready  to  be  set 
off  except  connecting  the  clock.  J.  J.  McNamara  in- 
structed me  to  stop  off  at  Pittsburg  and  make  an 
investigation  as  to  what  was  doing  there  in  the  way 
of  building. 

"I  want  to  make  a  correction  at  this  time,  viz. :  I 
did  not  go  to  Chicago  from  Detroit,  but  instead  I 
went  to  Pittsburg  and  there  met  Hockin  again. 
This  visit  comes  in  between  June  27th  and  July  28th, 
previous  to  my  trip  to  New  York.  While  there  he 
received  a  telegram  from  J.  J.  McNamara,  stating, 
'Call  all  bets  off;  nothing  doing,'  meaning  by  that 
they  should  not  go  ahead  with  any  further  work, 


THE    MASKED    WAR  169 

and  directed  Hockin  to  send  me  back  to  Chicago 
and  for  him  to  return  to  headquarters.  We  left  to- 
gether, and  on  the  way  back,  stopped  at  Beaver. 
Hockin  took  me  over  to  Rochester,  Pa.  (I  think 
that's  the  place),  showed  me  where  this  stuff  was 
buried,  and  we  got  three  four-quart  cans,  put  them 
in  a  suit  case  and  took  them  to  Cleveland.  We  were 
met  at  the  depot  there  by  two  men,  whom  I  had 
never  seen  before,  but  Hockin  knew  one  and  had  a 
conversation  with  him,  and  the  other  came  to  me 
and  said,  'I  will  relieve  you  of  your  load.'  He 
picked  up  the  suit  case  and  walked  away  with  it.  I 
do  not  know  what  he  did  with  it.  I  subsequently 
learned  that  it  was  Nipper  Anderson  who  took  this 
suit  case  from  me,  either  through  Hockin  at  the 
time  or  later.  I  learned  the  other  was  Smith  or 
Schmitty,  and  he  was  connected  with  Local  No.  17, 
Cleveland.  He  is  a  man  of  about  35  years,  5  feet 
8  or  8^2  inches,  sandy  mustache  (not  sure  about 
the  mustache).  I  met  him  since  at  Cleveland. 
Nipper  Anderson  also  belongs  there.  We  were  re- 
lieved of  the  suit  cases  by  Schmitty  and  Anderson.  I 
then  returned  to  Chicago.  I  subsequently  learned 
that  it  was  taken  to  Akron  or  Canton,  the  former  I 
think,  and  exploded  there  under  some  shops.  I  saw 
an  account  of  it  later  in  the  paper. 

"On  my  next  trip  to  Indianapolis,  I  discussed  it 
with  J.  J.  McNamara.  He  asked  me  whether  I 
had  brought  any  stuff  to  Cleveland,  and  how  much. 
I   then   told   him   about   it.      McNamara   then   ar- 


170  THE    MASKED    WAR 

ranged  for  me  to  go  to  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  which 
has  already  been  explained,  and  pull  off  the  Phoenix 
Company  job.  He  furnished  me  with  the  suit  case, 
containing  the  nitroglycerin  and  two  clocks.  As 
already  stated,  I  went  there  and  succeeded  in  getting 
it  off  as  desired,  for  which  I  received  $200  and  ex- 
penses. On  my  way  back  I  stopped  off  at  Pittsburg 
and  found  McNamara  working  on  some  viaduct 
there.  On  my  trip  to  Jersey  City  I  had  three  clocks 
so  that  in  case  one  went  wrong,  I  would  have  an- 
other. Since  I  had  no  trouble  in  Jersey  City,  I  had 
an  extra  clock  on  getting  to  Pittsburg.  I  went  down 
to  Rochester  and  got  one  four-quart  can  and  took  it 
up.  The  first  night  I  did  not  succeed  in  getting  any 
of  the  work. 

"In  Pittsburg  I  stopped  at  a  hotel  near  the  post 
office,  one  block  off  of  Smithfield  Street,  McGraw. 
(This  is  what  gave  me  the  idea  of  using  the  name 
of  McGraw  at  the  places  I  will  subsequently  ex- 
plain.) I  went  down  the  next  night  and  got  in  on 
the  work  and  set  it  off.  I  had  no  trouble  getting  in, 
and  it  exploded  about  12  o'clock  midnight.  I  then 
returned  to  Indianapolis  and  reported  to  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara at  his  office,  and  he  paid  me  $400  and  ex- 
penses, $200  and  expenses  for  the  Jersey  City  job 
and  $200  and  expenses  for  the  Pittsburg  job. 

"He  then  sent  me  to  Omaha,  Nebraska,  and  fur- 
nished me  with  a  suit  case.  I  was  furnished  with 
the  nitroglycerin  by  J.  J.  McNamara,  together  with 
the  two  clock  arrangements." 


CHAPTER    XXV 

PAID    $200   AND    EXPENSES    PER    EXPLOSION 

As  McManigal  continued  with  his  confession  we 
realized  that  it  would  be  only  a  matter  of  patient 
work  to  verify  everything  he  was  telling  us.  Men 
would  be  sent  to  every  hotel  where  he  and  Jim  Mc- 
Namara  had  stopped,  registers  would  be  looked  up 
and  tracings  made  of  the  signatures  of  the  two  men. 
Hockin  would  be  checked  up  in  his  movements  also, 
and  from  the  government  weather  bureau  records 
would  be  found  to  verify  the  descriptions  of 
weather  conditions  obtaining  on  the  nights  of  the 
various  explosions.  If  it  snowed  in  this  city  the 
weather  records  would  show  whether  McManigal 
was  telling  the  truth.  If  it  rained  the  records  would 
say  rain  or  show  that  McManigal  had  either  made 
a  mistake  or  was  lying. 

We  lost  no  time  in  preparing  for  this  work.  It 
would  require  a  big  staff  of  careful,  patient  men. 
Registered  letters  and  money  orders  could  be 
traced  through  the  post  office  department  and  the 
cashing  of  checks  could  be  traced  through  the  banks 
and  their  books.  The  caches  for  dynamite  and 
nitroglycerin  would  be  uncovered  and  were  subse- 

171 


172  THE   MASKED   WAR 

quently  uncovered.  The  purchase  of  materials  for 
the  infernal  machines  would  be  and  were  verified. 

McManigal  told  where  he  bought  twelve  alarm 
clocks,  a  large  purchase  for  a  man  not  in  the  busi- 
ness, and  we  looked  up  this  place  and  verified  his 
statement.  We  take  up  his  confession  now  at  the 
point  where  he  laid  in  a  supply  of  the  little  clocks 
in  Pittsburg. 

The  prisoner  hidden  away  in  Detective  Reed's 
comfortable  little  home  continued: 

"At  the  time  I  was  in  Pittsburg,  I  purchased 
twelve  of  these  clocks  from  a  wholesale  jewelry 
house  on  Eighth  and  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  I  think. 
I  purchased  them  from  a  lady  clerk,  paying,  I  think, 
$18  for  them,  which  was  50  cents  cheaper  than 
what  J.  B.  McNamara  paid.  I  then  proceeded  to 
Omaha,  Neb.,  and  got  the  power  house,  down  along 
the  river.  One  charge  was  set  off  there.  This  was 
supposed  to  be  the  property  of  the  Wisconsin  Bridge 
Company,  but  it  did  not  go  by  that  name  out  there. 
I  think  it  was  called  the  Western  Bridge  Company. 
I  was  instructed  by  J.  J.  McNamara  as  to  just 
where  the  job  was,  and  where  the  stuff  should  be 
put.  I  immediately  returned  to  Indianapolis,  and 
received  $200  and  expenses  from  J.  J.  McNamara 
for  this  job.  This  was  July  21st  that  the  Omaha 
job  came  off. 

"I  came  home,  stopped  off  a  day  or  two,  and  then 
went  to  Duluth,  Minn.,  as  per  instructions  given  me 


THE    MASKED    WAR  173 

when  J.  J.  McNamara  again  furnished  me  with 
two  cans  of  nitroglycerin,  and  two  clocks.  This 
stuff  was  in  the  cans  when  I  got  there.  I  went  to 
Duluth  and  was  told  to  get  the  coal  hoist,  a  job 
being  done  by  Heyl  &  Patterson.  This  was  at 
Superior,  across  the  river  from  Duluth.  There 
were  two  charges  here.  The  job  was  a  success  and 
I  had  no  trouble  in  setting  it  off  except  that  I  had  to 
watch  the  watchman.     I  was  afraid  of  the  dog. 

"I  returned  to  Indianapolis  from  Duluth,  re- 
ceived my  $200  and  expenses,  and  was  then  directed 
by  J.  J.  McNamara  to  proceed  to  Kansas  City,  Mo., 
and  I  would  find  some  McClintic-Marshall  work 
across  the  river.  He  then  furnished  me  with  a  suit- 
case and  three  cans,  making  twelve  quarts  of  nitro- 
glycerin, and  three  clock  arrangements.  I  pro- 
ceeded there  on  August  23rd  and  stopped  at  a  small 
lodging  house,  and  then  changed  the  next  day,  going 
to  the  Jefferson,  registering  there  under  the  name 
of  McGraw. 

"While  in  Omaha,  I  registered  at  a  hotel,  the 
name  of  which  I  do  not  now  remember,  registering 
under  the  name  of  McGraw;  also  used  the  same 
name  at  Duluth,  and  also  at  Kansas  City.  I  set 
one  charge  off  in  Kansas  City.  I  carried  this  stuff 
down  with  me;  there  were  high  weeks  around  there. 
I  made  arrangements  for  three  charges  in  the 
girders.  The  night  I  carried  it  down  I  expected  to 
get  in  and  make  the  three  charges.  After  I  had 
one  can  and  two  clocks  carried  in  and  placed  in  the 


174  THE    MASKED   WAR 

high  grass,  I  went  back  to  the  hotel,  got  the  two 
cans  and  the  other  clock,  and  took  them  down  there 
and  carried  them  into  the  place  with  me.  I  saw 
something  in  the  brush  which  I  thought  was  a  watch- 
man and  that  he  had  seen  me.  I  later  learned  it 
was  a  couple  of  negroes.  I  did  not  set  it  but  left  it 
there  near  the  tree,  but  later  on  my  way  across  the 
field  discovered  the  watchman  sitting  right  along- 
side the  girders,  and  it  would  have  been  impossible 
for  me  to  do  anything.  I  then  went  back  up  to 
town,  and  the  next  day  returned  and  tried  to  locate 
all  this  stuff  where  I  had  hidden  it,  but  could  not 
find  the  two  clocks  and  one  can  of  it,  and  I  con- 
cluded that  someone  had  picked  it  up,  but  I  did 
locate  two  cans  and  one  clock  I  had  under  the  tree. 
That  evening,  I  set  these  two  cans  and  one  clock 
between  two  big  girders  there,  expecting  them  to  go 
off  about  9:30  or  10:00  o'clock  p.  m.  that  night 
when  I  was  up  in  town.  It  failed  to  go  off,  however, 
for  some  cause  or  other.  I  heard  no  report.  The 
next  day  I  went  down  there  and  upon  investigation 
saw  that  the  stuff  was  still  there.  I  went  in  there 
in  broad  daylight,  took  the  clock  arrangement  from 
the  cans  and  found  that  the  batteries  were  not 
strong  enough  to  make  the  spark.  I  detached  the 
clock  from  it  and  went  up  to  town,  got  a  new  bat- 
tery at  some  electrical  concern,  and  put  a  new 
battery  in  it,  tested  it,  in  the  daytime,  leaving  the 
nitroglycerin  between  the  girders.  I  rearranged  it 
about  5  o'clock  that  evening.     I  saw  nothing  of  the 


THE    MASKED    WAR  175 

watchman  around.  It  went  off  that  evening  about 
9:30  or  10:00  o'clock.  This  was  August  23rd, 
1 9 10.  I  returned  to  Indianapolis,  collected  my  $200 
and  expenses  from  J.  J.  McNamara,  and  we  then 
found  we  were  out  of  nitroglycerin.  J.  J.  McNa- 
mara told  me  I  should  look  up  somebody  to  buy 
it  from;  that  I  should  look  up  the  fellow  Hockin 
had  purchased  it  from.  I  went  around  to  the  towns 
J.  J.  McNamara  said  I  would  find  him  at,  one  of 
them  New  Albany,  Ind.  I  went  over  to  Albany 
on  the  street  car  and  returned  to  Indianapolis  the 
same  day.  I  was  instructed  to  look  up  a  well-shooter 
at  Albany  or  Portland,  Ind.,  named  Kiser,  but  I 
found  that  he  had  moved.  A  man  at  a  livery  barn 
in  Albany  stated  that  he  knew  a  man  at  Portland; 
that  I  could  probably  find  a  well-shooter  there.  I 
went  to  Portland  and  inquired.  I  saw  a  man  on 
the  street  who  looked  like  a  well-shooter  and  asked 
him  if  he  was  a  shooter.  He  directed  me  to  a  cafe 
where  I  eventually  met  one.  I  made  arrangements 
to  purchase  nitroglycerin  from  him,  discussed  prices, 
etc.  He  said  he  would  sell  it  for  $1.30  a  quart.  I 
added  another  dollar  to  that  myself,  making  it  $2.30 
a  quart.  I  arranged  with  this  man  to  buy  200  quarts 
to  be  delivered  whenever  I  called  on  him;  he  was 
to  meet  me  any  place  I  designated. 

"I  then  went  to  Muncie,  Ind.,  and  called  at  the 
Muncie  Transfer  Company,  and  arranged  to  hire 
a  horse  and  wagon.  In  the  meantime — I  neglected 
to  state — J.  J.  McNamara  had  given  me  $500  to 


176  THE    MASKED    WAR 

buy  the  nitroglycerin.  After  hiring  the  horse  and 
buggy  from  the  Muncie  Transfer  Company,  I  pro- 
ceeded to  Albany,  six  miles  away,  and  in  the  mean- 
time telephoned  this  man  and  told  him  to  meet 
me  in  Albany  with  this  amount  of  nitroglycerin, 
which  he  did,  delivering  to  me  200  quarts  for  which 
I  paid  him.  After  leaving  him  I  drove  back  to 
Muncie  and  buried  the  stuff  alongside  the  road  in 
a  cinder  bed  near  Muncie  on  the  road  between  Al- 
bany and  Muncie,  near  the  tracks  of  the  Big  Four. 
I  then  returned  the  horse  and  wagon  to  the  barn 
and  paid  the  man.  I  had  a  case  that  had  been  made 
out  of  pasteboard  to  hold  one  big  can  containing 
ten  quarts.  I  don't  know  who  made  this.  It  was 
given  to  me  by  J.  J.  McNamara  at  Indianapolis, 
empty,  and  I  was  to  transfer  in  this  some  of  the 
stuff.  He  also  had  a  box  arranged  to  carry  with  a 
shawl  strap  and  large  enough  to  hold  one  of  the 
ten-quart  cans.  These  big  cans  hold  ten  quarts. 
After  returning  the  horse  and  wagon,  I  took  two 
cans  with  me  back  to  Indianapolis,  arriving  there 
in  the  afternoon.  I  put  it  in  the  5th  floor  of  the 
same  building  as  McNamara's  office.  McNamara's 
office  is  located  in  the  American  Central  Life  Build- 
ing on  Monument  Square,  and  on  the  5th  floor  of 
this  building  there  is  a  vault  that  is  controlled  by 
J.  J.  McNamara,  and  he  furnished  me  with  the 
combination,  which  is  as  follows: 

"20—40—60—35. 

"I  carried  this  stuff  to  the  vault  and  placed  it 


THE    MASKED    WAR  177 

in  there.  This  was  between  August  24th  and  Sep- 
tember 1st.  My  time  for  this  transaction  was  $50, 
which  was  paid  me  by  J.  J.  McNamara,  together 
with  my  expenses." 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

HOBOES    BUILT    FIRE    OVER    NITRO. 

The  reader  may  recall  that  it  was  this  trip  by 
McManigal  to  Portland,  Ind.,  which  gave  us  the 
first  open  path  to  the  dynamiters.  You  may  re- 
member that  my  agency  was  called  in  immediately 
following  the  explosions  in  Peoria  and  East  Peoria 
and  that  we  found  a  can  of  nitroglycerin  with  clock- 
work attachment  and  an  empty  packing  case  with 
some  loose  sawdust.  You  may  also  remember  how 
Operative  H.  A.  Graves  took  a  sample  of  the  saw- 
dust and  how  it  proved  the  same  sort  of  sawdust 
that  was  spilled  in  the  road  when  Morehart  trans- 
ferred the  nitroglycerin  from  his  wagon  to  the  rig 
hired  by  the  purchaser  who  gave  his  name  as  "Mc- 
Graw." 

When  McManigal  reached  this  part  of  his  con- 
fession he  was  telling  us  things  that  we  had  already 
uncovered  and  we  were  certain  that  he  was  sticking 
to  the  truth  and  that  he  was  telling  the  whole  truth. 
The  fact,  even,  that  it  had  rained  on  the  night  of 
the  Peoria  explosions  he  did  not  neglect  to  tell  us. 

In  that  part  of  the  confession  to  follow  he  did 
not  tell  us  of  an  incident  concerning  the  nitroglycerin 

178 


THE    MASKED    WAR  179 

cache  in  the  woods  near  Muncie.  Our  men  sought 
it  out  and  found  it.  The  leaves  covering  the  explo- 
sive were  charred  as  by  a  fire.  A  number  of  tramps 
had  picked  out  this  spot  to  build  a  fire.  The  logs 
were  lit  over  the  explosive.  An  inch  or  two  more 
of  charring  and  it  would  have  rained  hobo  frag- 
ments for  a  week  in  Indiana. 

We  now  take  McManigal  to  the  Muncie  cache. 
His  confession  goes  on  in  these  words: 

"I  have  neglected  to  state  I  had  transferred  all 
of  these  200  quarts  of  this  stuff  except  four  cans, 
which  would,  of  course,  make  40  quarts.  On  my 
way  to  the  cinder  pile,  I  overtook  a  man  walking 
along  the  railroad  track  and  passed  him.  I  looked 
for  the  nitroglycerin  in  the  cinders  but  was  unable 
to  find  all  of  it.  I  saw  this  party  stop  for  a  minute 
or  two  and  I  quit  searching.  This  man  jumped 
down  on  the  road  from  the  bridge  and  walked 
underneath  same  and  went  away.  It  started  to  rain. 
I  had  the  two  empty  cases,  already  described,  to 
transport  the  two  cans,  and  returned  to  Muncie, 
Ind.,  to  the  Terminal  Station,  and  telephoned  J.  J. 
McNamara,  knowing  he  would  be  in  his  office.  The 
next  morning,  I  returned  to  the  cinder  pile,  with  a 
shovel,  but  was  unable  to  find  anything  there.  I 
thought  perhaps  some  of  the  men  employed  at  the 
stone  quarry  directly  across  might  have  stolen  it. 
I  returned  to  Indianapolis  and  discussed  the  matter 
with  J.  J.  McNamara. 


180  THE    MASKED    WAR 

"On  my  way  from  Kansas  City,  I  stopped  at 
Peoria,  where  I  looked  over  work  that  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara  had  instructed  me  to  examine,  same  being 
material  of  the  McClintic-Marshall  Company.  He 
directed  me  to  see  what  shape  they  were  in  and 
what  could  be  done  to  them.  After  getting  this 
second  lot  of  nitroglycerin,  he  told  me  to  return 
to  Peoria.  (I  had  to  make  two  trips  to  carry  the 
thirty  quarts.)  There  were  three  ten-quart  cans. 
I  took  two  quarts  out  of  one  ten-quart  can  and  set 
it  off  in  the  yard  of  the  Lucas  Brothers  foundry. 
After  arranging  the  nitroglycerin  in  the  McClintic- 
Marshall  job,  I  returned  to  my  hotel  and  was  there 
when  it  exploded.  I  left  the  same  night  at  mid- 
night and  went  to  Chicago.  I  stopped  in  Chicago 
a  couple  of  days,  and  returned  to  Indianapolis,  re- 
ceiving $200  and  my  expenses. 

"On  October  9th,  J.  J.  McNamara  directed  me 
to  go  to  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  gave  me  two  four- 
quart  cans,  which  he  had  all  prepared  and  directed 
me  to  set  it  under  the  Phoenix  Bridge  Company  job 
at  that  point.  I  did  this  job  and  then  went  to 
Boston,  and  got  the  train  to  Springfield,  Mass.,  as 
I  was  instructed  to  look  over  the  Court  House  and 
Tower  there,  which  I  did. 

"I  then  went  to  Philadelphia,  having  instructions 
to  look  over  some  work  the  McClintic-Marshall 
people  were  doing  there,  some  elevated  railroad 
work  for  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  railroad. 
I  looked  it  over  and  I  concluded  it  would  be  a  very 


THE    MASKED    WAR  181 

serious  matter  to  blow  this  up  as  there  were  too 
many  tenement  houses  in  the  vicinity,  which  un- 
questionably would  be  affected  by  the  explosion. 

"Returning  to  Indianapolis,  I  received  my  $200 
and  expenses  from  J.  J.  McNamara  for  the 
Worcester  job.  He  asked  me  about  the  Spring- 
field job.  I  said  I  was  afraid  of  it  as  it  was  next 
door  to  a  police  station.  He  said,  'We'll  have  to 
get  that — that's  all  there  is  to  it.'  " 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE  LOS  ANGELES  MASSACRE  ORDERED 

The  dynamiters  had  met  with  such  success  that 
they  were  now  ready  to  attempt  the  elimination  of 
General  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  his  home,  his  family, 
his  business  and  his  employees  in  Los  Angeles.  If 
this  intended  massacre  did  not  bring  victory  for  the 
conspirators  the  conspirators  were  ready  to  follow 
it  with  the  complete  destruction  of  the  city  of  Los 
Angeles  and  the  destruction  of  the  Panama  Canal 
with  it.  They  had  enough  dynamite  and  nitro- 
glycerin to  blow  up  half  the  cities  of  the  country 
and  enough  men  to  lay  the  mines. 

McManigal  now  tells  of  the  preliminaries  for  the 
Los  Angeles  job  as  follows: 

"Along  in  June,  J.  B.  McNamara  and  I  went  to 
Indianapolis  together.  Had  a  conversation  with 
J.  J.  McNamara  and  J.  B.  McNamara;  I  can't  fix 
the  exact  date,  but  I  think  it  was  immediately  after 
my  return  from  Pittsburg,  July  14th  or  21st.  J. 
B.  McNamara  said  he  was  going  to  the  Coast;  and 
he  was  going  to  get  in  touch  with  a  fellow  called 
'The  Old  Man'   (who  I  afterwards  found  out  was 

182 


THE    MASKED    WAR  183 

a  man  called  Tveitmoe),  and  Clancy.  He  told  me 
that  he  had  been  instructed  by  J.  J.  McNamara. 
When  he  was  ready  to  go  to  the  Coast,  he  and  I 
went  to  Chicago  on  the  same  train.  He  was  then 
on  his  way.  I  asked  him  what  was  coming  off  out 
there.  He  said  that  the  whole  damn  thing  was  no 
good  out  there;  that  they  were  going  to  make  a 
big  clean-up;  that  there  was  plenty  of  money  put 
up.  He  said  it  was  planned  that  he  go  to  the  Coast 
and  I  stay  here.  This  was  decided  in  a  conference 
J.  J.  McNamara  and  J.  B.  McNamara  and  I  had 
at  the  office  in  Indianapolis. 

UJ.  B.  McNamara  put  up  a  proposition  to  the 
parties  in  California  that  they  buy  the  stuff  here 
instead  of  out  there.  When  he  was  leaving  he  had 
two  suitcases.  He  had  clocks  in  one,  I  think  a 
dozen,  and  clothes  in  the  other.  He  told  me  that 
he  used  the  stuff  they  bought  out  there  on  the 
Times.  This  statement  came  out  in  a  discussion 
as  to  what  quantity  he  used.  He  said  he  used  eight 
sticks  on  the  Times.  The  clocks  referred  to  may 
have  been  clocks  I  purchased  in  Pittsburg.  (Mc- 
Manigal  could  not  remember  all  the  conversation 
between  J.  B.  McNamara  and  J.  J.  McNamara  at 
Indianapolis,  just  previous  to  the  departure  of  the 
former  for  California.) 

"While  J.  B.  McNamara  was  in  California,  I 
saw  an  account  of  something  that  happened  at 
Spokane;  then  there  was  one  around  Oakland.  I 
asked  J.  J.  McNamara  if  he  had  received  any  word 


1 84  THE    MASKED    WAR 

from  the  'fellow  on  the  Coast,'  meaning,  of  course, 
his  brother,  and  he  knew  who  I  meant.  He  said, 
'No,  I  have  not.'  I  said  I  saw  a  couple  of  accounts. 
He  said,  'Yes,  I  did  too,  but  I  don't  know  whether 
it  was  him  or  who  it  was.'  It  ran  along  a  while 
and  I  asked  him  again  if  he  had  heard  anything. 
He  said  he  had  a  letter.  In  the  meantime  I  had 
gotten  in  touch  with  Hockin,  and  he  asked  me  where 
J.  B.  McNamara  was.  I  told  him  I  did  not  know. 
The  next  time  J.  J.  McNamara  and  I  talked  about 
J.  B.  was  when  I  later  asked  him  if  he  had  received 
any  word.  He  said,  yes,  he  received  a  letter  from 
'Frisco,  in  which  J.  B.  McNamara  said,  'It  now 
reads  "Times  for  News."  It  will  read  "News  for 
the  Times."  '  This  was  about  two  or  three  weeks 
before  the  explosion. 

"The  next  time  I  talked  with  J.  J.  McNamara 
about  J.  B.  McNamara  on  the  Coast  was  when  I 
saw  an  account  of  the  Times  explosion.  I  was  in 
Chicago  at  the  time.  I  bought  a  paper  and  read 
same.     The  next  time  I  went  to  Indianapolis,   he 

said,  ' !     See  what  those  fellows  are 

doing  out  there!'  I  said,  'I  wonder  if  that  is  that 
fellow.'  He  said,  'I  don't  know;  I  guess  it  must 
be.  It  was  the  Times  they  wanted  and  got.'  I 
expressed  the  opinion  that  it  was  too  bad  so  many 
people  being  killed.  He  said,  'By  God!  That 
ought  to  make  them  come  across.'  I  said,  'I  sup- 
pose he  is  on  his  way  back.  If  that's  the  case  he 
must  be  well  on  his  way  with  such  a  thing  like  that 


THE    MASKED    WAR  185 

happening.'  He  said,  'I  suppose  so.  If  he  isn't 
he  is  well  under  cover.' 

"J.  J.  McNamara  instructed  me  not  to  come  to 
their  office  too  damn  often.  He  said,  'I  don't  know 
who  the  hell  is  around  here.'  He  was  quite  nervous 
at  that  time.  He  said  he  thought  then  there  would 
be  somebody  looking  around  and  he  suspected  a 
fellow  over  in  another  office  building.  I  saw  there 
had  been  changes  made  in  the  office — a  general 
cleaning  up  of  cuts,  etc.  I  then  returned  to  Chicago 
and  kept  under  cover. 

"I  first  heard  of  J.  B.  returning  about  the  third 
or  fourth  of  November,  when  there  was  a  telephone 
call  at  my  house,  but  I  was  not  at  home.  My  wife 
answered  the  phone  and  the  party  said,  'Is  Mac 
home?'  'No.'  The  party  then  said,  'Tell  Mac  his 
friend  Mr.  Clark  wants  to  see  him  at  1 1  o'clock 
at  the  Briggs  Hotel.'  I  went  down  there  and  looked 
over  the  register  and  there  was  no  such  name  on 
same.  (I  knew  who  it  was  I  was  to  meet  as  I 
heard  him  use  that  name  before.)  He  was  talking 
to  a  stranger  to  me.  After  the  latter  left  him,  we 
walked  down  the  street  somewhere.  The  moment 
I  met  him  he  told  me  that  he  had  seen  him  (mean- 
ing J.  B.)  and  he  (J.  J.  McNamara)  said,  ' 


!     Things  are  red  hot.     There's  a  hell  of 

a  smear  around  there.'  I  said,  'Is  he  clear?  Is  he 
out  of  the  way?'  He  said,  'He  is  away,  but  he  is 
not  clear  yet.'  I  tried  to  get  out  of  him  where 
he  was,  but  he  would  not  tell  me.     He  wanted  to 


1 86  THE    MASKED    WAR 

know  if  I  had  anything  around  the  house.  I  told 
him  no,  I  did  not.  He  said  if  I  had  I  should  get 
rid  of  it.  We  entered  an  office  building  down  the 
street.  I  stood  inside  the  lobby  while  he  went  up- 
stairs. This  office  building,  I  think,  is  on  Dearborn 
Street,  near  Van  Buren.  He  remained  upstairs  a 
few  minutes,  then  we  went  toward  Madison  Street, 
had  lunch  and  J.  J.  McNamara  told  me  he  knew 
where  the  fellow  was  that  he  had  seen  (meaning 
J.  B.).  I  asked  him  how  he  looked  and  he  said, 
'Pretty  good.' 

"He  asked  me  if  I  was  going  hunting,  and  I  said, 
'Yes.'  I  had  talked  hunting  with  him  for  some  time 
previous.  'Everything  is  all  arranged  to  go  hunt- 
ing. There  are  five  of  us  going  and  there  is  room 
for  another  fellow  if  one  wants  to  go.'  He  said  the 
fellow  had  no  gun,  and  I  said  the  fellow  could  use 
my  gun.  I  also  told  him  I  thought  it  would  be  the 
best  thing  for  him;  a  trip  in  the  woods  would  be 
a  good  thing  for  him.  He  said  he  would  put  the 
proposition  up  to  him  and  let  me  know.  I  left  J. 
J.  McNamara  at  Van  Buren  and  Dearborn  Streets, 
with  the  understanding  that  I  was  to  hear  from  him. 
I  then  went  home.  That  evening,  I  understood  he 
was  to  go  somewhere  on  55th  Street,  saying  he 
wanted  to  see  a  party  there. 

"That  evening  Hockin  telephoned  me  at  my  home 
and  wanted  to  know  when  I  had  seen  the  'big  fel- 
low.' I  told  him  I  had  seen  him  about  noon  and 
he  said  he  was  going  to  55th  Street.     He  said,  'I 


THE    MASKED    WAR  187 

had  an  appointment  with  him  and  have  been  wait- 
ing for  him  and  was  wondering  what  became  of 
him.'  He  wanted  to  know  what  I  was  doing.  I 
was  going  hunting,  I  told  him.  That  was  about  the 
2nd  or  3rd  of  November.  He  asked  me  who  was 
going  along.  I  said,  some  fellows  from  Kenosha 
and  a  fellow  from  Chicago.  He  wanted  to  know 
if  I  had  seen  anything  of  the  'queer  guy,'  meaning 
J.  B.  McNamara.  I  said,  'No,  I  have  not  seen  him, 
but  I  have  heard.'  He  said  he  wished  he  could  see 
me  or  have  a  talk  with  me;  that  he  could  give  me 
some  good  pointers  or  something  to  that  effect.  He 
wanted  to  know  when  I  was  leaving  home.  I  said, 
Saturday,  when  I  went  to  Kenosha  for  my  license, 
and  was  going  to  leave  Monday  for  the  woods. 
In  a  way  that  I  knew  this  fellow  was  coming,  J.  J. 
McNamara  sent  me  a  telegram  worded  in  such  a 
way  I  knew  what  was  meant.  This  telegram  was 
from  Indianapolis.  I  endeavored  to  arrange  for  a 
gun  for  him,  but  could  not  obtain  it.  I  then  went 
to  Kenosha  and  met  the  parties  I  was  to  meet  there, 
and  made  application  for  license.  J.  B.  McNamara 
met  us  on  Sunday  morning,  having  come  up  on  Sat- 
urday night,  calling  me  over  the  'phone,  as  he  had 
the  number  of  the  house  I  was  stopping  at.  I  met 
him  at  the  hotel.  J.  J.  McNamara  had  told  me 
that  J.  B.'s  name  would  be  Frank  Sullivan  and  I 
must  get  into  the  habit  of  calling  him  'Sully';  he 
told  me  this  in  Chicago.  We  entered  the  bar  at  a 
hotel  in  Kenosha  and  had  a  few  drinks." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

JIM  mcmamara's  story  of  the  crime 

Just  how  much  humanity  there  was  in  the  breast 
of  either  of  the  McNamara  brothers  is  pretty  well 
shown  in  their  cold-blooded  handling  of  affairs  im- 
mediately following  the  wholesale  murder  in  Los 
Angeles.  There  was  never  a  suggestion  of  remorse 
on  the  part  of  either,  no  ghost  of  any  one  of  the 
twenty-one  murdered  men  and  boys  ever  haunted 
either  of  them. 

Jim  McNamara  told  McManigal  of  his  Los 
Angeles  job  with  the  same  casual  account  of  detail 
he  might  have  used  in  relating  the  story  of  one  of 
his  many  sprees. 

McManigal's  confession  thus  describes  Jim  Mc- 
Namara's  tale  of  his  dreadful  deed: 

"I  first  had  a  talk  with  J.  B.  McNamara  when 
we  arrived.  He  said,  'When  we  get  into  the  woods, 
I  can  tell  you  all.' 

"When  we  did  get  to  the  woods,  he  told  me  that 
when  he  got  out  there  he  got  in  touch  with  Clancy 
at  San  Francisco.  J.  B.  seemed  to  be  very  sore 
about  the  layout  on  the  Coast.    He  did  not  like  the 

188 


THE    MASKED    WAR  189 

fellows  he  was  working  with.  He  said  he  was 
working  with  a  fellow  named  Schmitty  and  a  fellow 
named  Caplan.  He  said  Clancy  introduced  him  to 
Tveitmoe;  that  the  latter  introduced  him  to 
Schmitty  and  Caplan,  and  that  Schmitty  and  Caplan 
had  been  doing  the  work  around  that  part  of  the 
country,  that  Tveitmoe  wanted  him  to  take  the  light 
end  of  it,  and  instead  of  that  Schmitty  gave  him 
orders. 

"J.  B.  McNamara  told  me  what  a  time  they  had 
getting  the  stuff,  at  the  Giant  Powder  Mills.  He 
wanted  to  drop  the  proceedings.  Schmitty,  it  seems, 
was  the  main  man.  He  said  they  rented  a  launch, 
but  none  of  them  knew  how  to  run  it,  although 
Schmitty  and  Caplan  thought  they  did.  In  loading 
the  launch,  they  put  all  the  boxes  in  burlap  in  the 
front  end  of  the  launch,  and  the  rudder  on  the 
other  end  was  clear  out  of  water.  Schmitty  was 
engineer  and  instead  of  making  headway,  they  made 
'backway.' 

"Schmitty  started  the  launch  into  the  shore  near 
the  Giant  Powder  Company,  and  while  Schmitty  and 
Caplan  got  out  of  the  boat  into  the  skiff,  a  wave 
came  up  and  started  the  boat  out. 

"They  got  a  room  after  landing  on  the  Frisco 
side  and  rented  a  house  in  which  they  stored  the 
stuff.  When  they  got  the  stuff  they  had  to  make 
a  deposit,  and  they  covered  the  name  on  the  boat 
with  red  tape.  The  stuff  was  signed  for  in  J.  B. 
Bryce's  name.     They  placed  part  of  the  stuff  in 


190  THE    MASKED    WAR 

the  house  they  rented  and  took  a  part  of  it  to  Oak- 
land. There  were  taxicabs,  high  living,  wine,  etc. 
He  said  that  he  was  down  there  and  looked  over 
the  situation  at  Los  Angeles.  He  returned  again  to 
see  Schmitty  and  Schmitty  gave  him  the  address  of 
some  woman  down  there  who  runs  a  rooming  house. 
Anyway,  Schmitty  wanted  to  go  to  Los  Angeles 
also.  He  did  not  want  Schmitty  to  go  down,  so  he 
called  on  'The  Old  Man'  (meaning  Tveitmoe)  and 
said,  'I  want  you  to  call  that  fellow  off  (meaning 
Schmitty).  I  don't  think  he  ought  to  go  down 
there,  and  if  he  goes  down  there  I  am  not  going 
down.'  'The  Old  Man'  told  him  to  go  on  about  his 
business  and  he  would  see  that  Schmitty  and  Caplan 
stayed  there,  because  just  as  soon  as  anything  hap- 
pened, Schmitty  would  run  right  up  to  Tveitmoe's 
office  and  out  would  come  the  cash.  Schmitty  told 
J.  B.  McNamara,  'You  are  to  get  $200  with  your 
expenses;  that  is  the  arrangement  made.'  I  don't 
recall  whether  he  said  he  himself  made  the  arrange- 
ments with  Caplan  and  Caplan  with  Schmitty,  but 
the  names  of  Caplan  and  Schmitty  were  mentioned. 
The  men  were  always  paid  by  Tveitmoe.  He  said 
he  stopped  at  the  Roslin  Hotel  in  Los  Angeles.  He 
tried  to  get  in  the  building  two  or  three  times  but 
was  unsuccessful;  that  is,  the  Times  Building.  He 
told  me  that  he  had  three  places  picked:  'Otis's 
house,  Zeehandelaar's  house,  and  the  Times.  He 
said  that  he  had  a  hell  of  a  time  passing  the 
watchman   in   front  of  the   Times.     He   said  the 


THE    MASKED   WAR  191 

watchman  was  stationed  at  the  entrance  or  back 
end  of  the  alley.  Some  kid  came  to  the  door  as  he 
came  in  and  he  asked  him  about  the  publication 
room  or  something.  He  made  a  plant,  and  got  out 
of  there  right  away,  going  back  to  Frisco,  laying 
over  for  four  days  in  Frisco,  stopping  at  the  Argo- 
naut Hotel.  He  told  me  about  the  time  he  was 
having  with  the  fast  women  and  others  in  San  Fran- 
cisco all  the  time,  and  also  about  the  woman  who 
kept  the  rooming  house  where  he  hung  out.  This 
was  prior  to  the  Los  Angeles  explosion.  He  came 
back  and  stopped  at  the  Argonaut  Hotel  when  he 
came  back  from  Los  Angeles.  He  told  me  about 
the  money  Tveitmoe  still  owes  him,  there  never 
having  been  a  settlement.  When  he  returned  to 
Frisco  he  got  in  touch  with  Schmitty  and  Caplan, 
and  he  had  to  wait  four  days  to  get  his  money,  and 
then  Schmitty  gave  it  to  him;  or  either  Schmitty  or 
Tveitmoe  gave  it  to  him,  amounts  unknown.  He 
immediately  started  back.  I  don't  know  where  he 
stopped  on  his  way.  There  was  some  fellow  who 
came  part  way  here,  but  J.  B.  McNamara  did  not 
mention  his  name. 

"I  then  returned  to  Chicago  and  wrote  J.  J. 
McNamara  a  letter. 

"A  couple  of  days  later  I  received  a  telegram 
from  J.  B.  McNamara,  signing  'Frank,'  stating, 
'Leave  on  2 :45  Monon  train.'  I  went  to  India- 
napolis, and  J.  J.  stated  that  I  would  have  to  go  to 
Los  Angeles.     I  said,  'That's  a  hell  of  a  trip.'    He 


192  THE    MASKED    WAR 

said,  'It  will  be  three  days  and  three  nights'  ride.* 
He  wanted  me  to  go  out  there  and  see  if  we  could 
get  any  more  of  the  Times  Building  (the  auxiliary 
plant),  and  also  the  Llewellyn  plant  (Llewellyn 
Iron  Works)  and  the  Baker  Iron  Works.  J.  B. 
McNamara  said,  'I  wish  I  were  going  along  with 
you.  I  would  go  back  there  in  a  minute.  But  this 
fellow  don't  seem  to  think  that  I  ought  to  go  back 
there.'  This  was  said  in  J.  J.  McNamara's  office 
and  in  J.  J.  McNamara's  presence.  I  said,  'If  you 
want  to  go,  go  ahead.'  I  told  him  I  would  not  go 
unless  I  had  my  transportation  and  expense  and 
everything  on  the  train.  He  said,  'That  will  be  all 
right;  that  will  be  attended  to.'  I  went  out  alone. 
On  arrival  there,  I  did  not  connect  with  any  one. 
J.  J.  McNamara  had  given  me  the  information  as 
to  where  everything  was  and  what  was  wanted.  I 
carried  12  quarts  with  me.  One  was  a  ten-quart 
can  in  the  pasteboard  arrangement  and  two  quarts 
in  my  valise.  I  gave  it  to  the  porter  on  the  train 
and  he  put  it  in  a  closet  in  the  end  of  the  car. 

"I  left  about  the  nth  or  12th  via  the  Overland 
Limited,  at  10:16  in  the  evening.  No  one  was  with 
me  when  I  left.  I  got  the  dope  from  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara as  had  been  previously  arranged.  I  had 
two  or  three  clocks,  all  arranged  for  use,  with  me. 
I  went  to  a  hotel,  and  then  looked  over  the  Llewel- 
lyn Iron  Works,  and  visited  the  auxiliary  plant 
of  the  Times.  J.  B.  McNamara  was  able  to  tell 
me  definitely  where  these  places  were  located  and 


THE    MASKED    WAR  193 

conditions  about  the  same.  I  found  the  Times 
place  was  well  watched.  I  then  visited  the  Llewellyn 
plant  and  tried  to  get  into  the  yards,  and  set  the 
12  quarts  along  the  outside  of  the  building,  being 
unable  to  get  inside.  I  then  went  to  my  hotel  and 
checked  out.  I  looked  the  Baker  Brothers  place 
over,  but  decided  not  to  bother  it.  I  stopped  at 
the  Rosslyn  Hotel  under  the  name  of  J.  M.  McKee, 
LaCrosse,  Wis. 

"When  I  left  Los  Angeles,  I  went  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  got  in  touch  with  Clancy  at  the  Labor 
Temple.    I  stopped  at  the  Argonaut  Hotel. 

"J.  B.  McNamara  said  to  me  that  by  going  out 
there  and  setting  off  this  stuff,  if  the  detectives  were 
still  on  their  trail,  they  would  think  the  dynamiters 
were  still  out  there. 

"In  conversation  with  Clancy,  whom  I  had  never 
seen  before,  but  whom  I  talked  to  when  I  was  in 
Frisco,  I  said,  'When  you  see  The  Old  Man,  you 
can  tell  him  that  "Christmas  present"  was  delivered' 
(meaning  by  'The  Old  Man,'  Tveitmoe). 

"On  arrival  in  Chicago,  I  remained  here  until 
after  New  Year's.  Then  I  saw  J.  J.  McNamara  at 
Indianapolis.  J.  B.  McNamara  was  present  at  our 
interview.  He  expressed  his  disappointment  at  my 
failure  to  carry  out  his  instructions,  saying,  'You 
should  have  gotten  a  bunch  of  that  soup  in  the 
Times  and  given  them  a  shaking  up.'  I  said,  'My 
God  I  It  did  not  look  good  to  me.  It  looked  like 
suicide.'     They  said  if  I  had  carried  out  the  thing 


194  THE    MASKED    WAR 

the  way  they  told  me  to  it  would  have  averted  sus- 
picion from  them  and  myself.  He  paid  me  my  time 
and  expenses,  amounting  to  $400. 

"J.  J.  McNamara  stated,  'We  will  keep  on  one 
job  and  work  on  that  one  (meaning  by  that,  not 
jumping  from  coast  to  coast  and  job  to  job),  but 
take  one  town  and  see  what  we  can  do  with  that, 
and  if  anything  can  be  done  it  will  be  done,  and  if 
nothing  can  be  done,  we  will  take  another  job.' 
J.  B.  McNamara  was  present  at  this  meeting.  This 
remark  was  made  in  the  evening  at  J.  J.'s  office. 
The  only  time  he  would  see  us  at  his  office  was  at 
night. 

"J.  J.  McNamara  said  to  me,  'I  want  you  to  go 
up  there  and  clean  up  that  Milwaukee  job.  It  is 
a  coal  hoist  at  the  Milwaukee  Fuel  Company,  the 
Heyl-Patterson  Company  erecting  it.'  McNamara 
had  everything  arranged,  gave  me  a  suitcase,  and  I 
went  to  Milwaukee,  stopping  at  the  Acme  Hotel, 
under  the  name  of  Foster  or  Fisher  (I  forget 
which).  I  had  no  trouble  in  setting  it  off.  It  went 
off  all  right  and  I  had  no  trouble  in  getting  away. 
I  reported  to  J.  J.  McNamara  and  received  $200 
and  expenses.  He  then  said,  'I  want  you  to  go  to 
Omaha  and  get  that  Court  House  there.'  In  the 
meantime  J.  B.  McNamara  had  gone  to  Columbus, 
Ind.  I  did  not  go  with  him.  It  had  been  arranged 
that  when  things  were  ready  with  me  at  Omaha  I 
should  telegraph  J.  J.  McNamara,  'Please  forward 
one  hundred  to  Lincoln,  Nebraska.'     That  meant 


THE    MASKED    WAR  195 

the  other  fellow  was  to  go  ahead  and  set  his  off 
the  same  night.  I  sent  it  from  the  Northwestern 
Railroad  depot  in  Omaha;  then  set  it  off.  I  was 
stopping  at  the  Murray  House  under  the  name  of 
G.  Fisher. 

"Returning  from  Omaha,  I  reported  to  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara,  got  my  money,  seeing  him  at  night,  and  he 
told  me  I  should  go  to  Boston  and  then  come  back 
through  Springfield,  Mass.,  and  see  what  I  could 
do  on  the  tower  there.  He  said  he  wanted  me  to 
do  this  right  away.  I  asked  him  where  J.  B.  Mc- 
Namara  was.  He  said  he  was  in  Chicago  the  other 
day.  He  had  telephoned  my  wife.  At  Indianapolis 
that  night  I  got  in  touch  with  Hockin.  He  had  seen 
an  account  of  the  Columbus  and  Omaha  affairs.  I 
asked  him  how  things  looked.  He  said  everything 
looked  all  right. 

"Arrangements  were  made  for  me  to  go  to  Bos- 
ton, and  J.  J.  McNamara  had  the  stuff  ready  for 
me.  I  took  40  pounds  of  dynamite.  I  don't  know 
where  it  came  from.  I  carried  it  all  in  one  suit- 
case. We  discussed  the  matter.  I  had  no  trouble 
in  setting  the  stuff  off  there.  I  stopped  under  the 
name  of  G.  Fisher  or  G.  Foster  (I  have  forgotten 
which)  at  the  Hinkley  Hotel. 

"I  returned  from  Springfield  to  Detroit  where 
McNamara  wanted  me  to  look  at  several  places 
for  him: 

"Detroit  Breech  &  Steel  Company. 

"South  Dearborn  &  Michigan  Central  Railway 


i96  THE    MASKED    WAR 

of  Detroit  (South  Dearborn  is  a  suburb  of  Detroit 
on  the  M.  C.  R.  R.). 

"Whitehead  &  Kahel. 

"Breecher  &  Michigan  Central  Shops. 

"American  Bridge  Company. 

"Russel  Wheel  &  Foundry  Company,  Campau 
Avenue,  Detroit. 

"I  reported  the  above  O.  K.  to  J.  J.  McNamara 
— that  these  could  be  gotten  if  wanted.  He  located 
J.  B.  McNamara,  and  said  to  me,  'You  had  better 
get  ready  and  go  right  back  there  now.'  I  said,  'I 
don't  want  to  go  back  there.  I  am  going  to  run 
into  Chicago.'  I  said  to  J.  B.,  'What  have  you  got 
on?'  'I  haven't  got  anything  on,'  he  said.  J.  J. 
McNamara  said,  Are  you  going  down  to  see  that 
fellow?'  'Yes,  I  thought  I  would.'  (I  don't  know 
who  he  meant.)  He  said,  'You  go  down  and  see 
about  that  and  make  up  some  of  those  clocks.' 

"I  was  to  meet  J.  B.  McNamara  at  Toledo  Tues- 
day evening,  which  I  did.  We  met  at  Toledo,  and 
intended  going  over  to  Detroit. 

"Relative  to  the  explosion  at  West  Baden,  J.  B. 
McNamara  told  me  he  did  the  job  and  it  was 
unionized  the  next  morning  before  the  explosion 
was  reported  at  Indianapolis. 

"I  neglected  to  state  about  the  explosion  at  South 
Chicago.  I  was  called  to  Indianapolis  by  J.  J. 
McNamara  and  he  said  that  Chicago  had  a  job 
up  there,  and  that  Hockin  was  going  up  to  investi- 
gate it  and  would  be  back  in  a  day  or  two.    Hockin 


THE    MASKED    WAR  197 

had  been  up  there  and  got  in  touch  with  somebody 
and  inspected  the  job.  J.  B.  McNamara  came  to 
my  house  and  told  me  where  to  go,  he  following 
instructions  issued  by  J.  J.  McNamara.  We  went 
out  one  Sunday  evening,  looked  it  over  and  decided 
to  blow  up.  We  took,  the  2  145  train  for  Indianap- 
olis and  got  the  stuff  and  returned  Monday  night 
with  it.  We  got  back  about  8  o'clock  that  evening, 
stopping  at  the  'Best'  Hotel,  No.  78-80  Van  Buren 
Street.  We  left  the  stuff  in  the  basement  at  my 
house.  The  next  day  I  came  over  to  my  place  in 
the  forenoon,  and  made  up  the  clock  in  my  house. 
We  used  dynamite  for  this  job.  J.  J.  McNamara 
wanted  the  smokestack  hit.  We  found  the  place 
better  guarded,  however,  than  on  our  first  visit  and 
after  debating  it  between  ourselves,  returned  the 
next  evening  and  found  conditions  the  same.  On 
Friday  night  we  took  the  stuff  out  and  after  con- 
sideration put  it  on  the  outside  of  the  fence,  where 
it  went  off. 

"There  is  some  soup  planted  on  the  far  west 
side  of  Indianapolis  in  a  barn  owned  by  a  fellow 
named  Jones,  from  whom  McNamara  rented  it. 
Go  west  on  Washington  Street  to  end  of  street  car 
line,  go  on  walking  same  direction,  pass  concrete 
bridge,  follow  road,  continue  until  you  reach  Big 
Four  tracks.  Just  beyond  tracks  on  the  right  hand 
side  is  a  barn.  The  dynamite  is  in  the  barn  in  a 
piano  box.  This  was  placed  here  by  J.  B.  McNa- 
mara and  myself  in  January,  191 1.     This  was  pro- 


198  THE   MASKED   WAR 

cured  down  in  Ohio  in  Bloomville.  The  fellow 
from  whom  I  secured  the  dynamite  is  described: 

"Forty-five  to  48  years,  full  sandy  beard,  5  feet 
10  inches,  shabbily  dressed. 

"M.  J.  Young,  No.  386  Harrison  Avenue,  Bos- 
ton, is  business  agent  of  local  No.  7,  Structural  Iron 
Workers.  He  is  the  man  who  arranged  to  have  the 
Springfield  stuff  set  off.  I  told  him  that  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara  had  sent  me  down  there  to  meet  him  and 
he  was  to  tell  me  what  he  wanted  done.  I  met 
him  at  headquarters,  No.  368  Harrison  Avenue. 
He  wanted  a  fellow  slugged.  I  told  him  I  did  not 
do  that  kind  of  business. 

"Dynamite  planted  on  the  5th  floor  of  building 
where  J.  J.  McNamara  has  an  office  in  the  vault, 
combination  of  which  is:  20 — 40 — 80 — 35.  There 
might  be  some  in  the  basement  of  the  building. 
There  is  some  stuff  stored  in  Tiffin,  Ohio,  in  a 
shanty  off  of  Perry  Street,  back  of  wagon  works  on 
my  father's  place,  at  a  stone  quarry.  It  is  stored  in 
a  shanty.    There  is  considerable  of  it  there." 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

BURNS    LANDS   THE    MAN    HIGHER    UP 

We  kept  J.  B.  McNamara  and  Ortie  McManigal 
under  close  guard.  We  knew  that  J.  J.  McNamara 
would  be  anxious  to  hear  from  his  brother  and 
McManigal,  that  an  article  had  appeared  in  the 
Associated  Press  stating  that  James  Sullivan  and 
Ortie  McManigal  had  been  arrested  as  safe  blowers 
at  Detroit  and  taken  to  Chicago,  and  that  this  would 
probably  be  seen  by  him.  I  called  up  McManigal's 
wife,  and  introduced  the  following  piece  of  subter- 
fuge: 

Calling  up  Harrison  ,   a  woman's  voice 

replied.       I    said,     "Is    this    Harrison    ?" 

"Yes,"  was  the  answer.  "Well,"  I  said,  "you  don't 
know  me,  but  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  a 
friend  of  mine  at  Detroit,  and  I  will  read  it  to  you." 

She  said,  "Who  are  you?"  I  said,  "You  don't 
know  me,  nor  do  I  care  to  give  my  name,  but  I  will 
read  you  this  letter,  and  perhaps  that  will  enlighten 
you.  I'm  sure  it's  Greek  to  me,  and  I  don't  know 
anything  about  it."  She  said,  "Very  well."  Then 
I  began:     "Dear  Jack:     Immediately  on  receipt  of 

this  letter,  call  up  Harrison  and  tell  the 

woman  there" — and  I  said,  "are  you  the  woman?" 

199 


200  THE    MASKED    WAR 

— she  said,  "Yes,  yes,  I'm  the  woman."  "Tell  the 
woman  there  that  her  husband  and  his  friends  were 
arrested  in  Detroit  for  safe  blowing,  and  as  nothing 
could  be  proved  against  them  they  were  discharged, 
and  they  are  now  in  Windsor,  Canada." 

"Good!  Good!"  shouted  Mrs.  McManigal  over 
the  'phone.  "My  God,  but  I'm  glad  to  hear  that. 
That's  splendid  news.  Oh,  I'm  so  glad  they  have 
gotten  away." 

"Now,"  I  said,  "listen  to  the  rest  of  it.  Tell 
her  to  go  to  a  friend  of  theirs.  Now  it  doesn't  say 
who  the  friend  is." 

"Oh,  that's  all  right;  I  know  who  it  is.  Go 
ahead;  go  ahead,"  she  said.  I  continued,  "Go  to 
a  friend  of  theirs  and  tell  him  to  give  her  $500, 
and  for  her  then  to  return  home  and  await  a  further 
message  from  her  husband."  I  said,  "Do  you 
understand  that?" 

"Yes,  perfectly;  I  understand  what  they  mean, 
and  I  will  leave  to-night." 

I  said,  "Is  there  any  word  that  you  want  to  send 
back  to  them?" 

"Yes,  tell  them  I  will  leave  to-night  and  that  I 
will  get  back  about  to-morrow  night." 

I  said,  "All  right.    Good-bye." 

"Good-bye." 

We  put  a  shadow  on  Mrs.  McManigal,  and  she 
immediately  left,  as  she  stated  she  would,  for  In- 
dianapolis. When  she  reached  there  she  saw  J.  J. 
McNamara  and  told  him  the  story,  as  we  subse- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  201 

quently  learned.  While  it  relieved  him  to  some  ex- 
tent, he  was  not  altogether  reassured.  Why  he  was 
not  developed  later  on,  and  was  an  important 
feature  that  McManigal  had  entirely  overlooked  in 
the  first  part  of  his  confession.  J.  J.  McNamara 
had  an  understanding  with  his  brother  and  McMan- 
igal that  if  at  any  time  they  got  into  trouble  they 
were  to  write  or  wire  a  certain  post  office  box,  No. 
1,  in  Indianapolis,  which  had  been  obtained  under 
another  name.  Therefore,  McNamara  thought,  if 
all  this  were  true  that  Mrs.  McManigal  had  stated, 
why  did  not  the  two  men  comply  with  his  direction  to 
notify  him  through  the  post  office  box.  Our  "shad- 
ows" at  Indianapolis  constantly  reported  that  J. 
J.  McNamara  was  extremely  nervous,  constantly 
testing  himself,  and  looking  about  in  an  effort  to 
uncover  them. 

After  the  Los  Angeles  explosion,  J.  J.  McNamara 
showed  a  picture  of  me,  cut  from  a  magazine,  to 
Ortie  McManigal  and  J.  B.  McNamara,  and  said 
to  them:  "Look  out  for  this  fellow.  If  ever  any- 
body gets  you  at  all,  it  will  be  this  guy." 

Finally,  the  officers,  accompanied  by  Assistant 
District  Attorney  Robert  Ford,  arrived  in  Chicago, 
and  we  promptly  arranged  for  requisition  papers 
for  James  B.  McNamara  and  Ortie  McManigal 
from  the  State  of  Illinois.  I  then  arranged  that 
when  the  signal  was  given  they  should  leave  Reed's 
house  in  an  automobile  and  drive  to  Joliet,  111.,  and 
there  board  the  fast  train  for  Los  Angeles. 


202  THE    MASKED    WAR 

We  proceeded  to  Indianapolis,  and  Assistant  Dis- 
trict Attorney  Robert  Ford,  Detective  Sergeant 
Hoosick,  and  myself  promptly  got  in  touch  with  the 
Superintendent  of  Police  at  the  Indianapolis  Police 
Department,  and  the  Chief  of  Detectives. 

Both  of  them  we  knew  as  honest,  conscientious, 
capable  officials,  and  had  no  hesitation  in  promptly 
laying  the  whole  matter  before  them.  The  Super- 
intendent said  that  he  would  aid  in  every  possible 
way  he  could,  after  being  assured  that  we  had  the 
evidence.  Assistant  District  Attorney  Ford  then 
called  on  Governor  Marshall — now  Vice-President 
Marshall.  He  inquired  into  the  situation,  and  as- 
suring himself  as  to  the  legal  questions  involved, 
promptly  performed  his  duty  and  issued  a  warrant 
for  J.  J.  McNamara,  which  was  promptly  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  Superintendent  of  Police  Martin 
and  Chief  of  Detectives. 

He  then  detailed  two  detectives  to  go  to  the 
office  of  the  Iron  Workers,  and  requested  me  to  go 
along  and  designate  the  man.  I  did  so,  and  when 
we  reached  the  offices  of  the  Structural  Iron 
Workers,  we  found  them  in  counsel.  It  was  appar- 
ent to  any  person  that  something  ominous  had  hap- 
pened that  caused  a  depression  of  the  spirits  of 
every  man  about  that  table.  When  one  of  us 
rapped  on  the  door  it  was  opened  by  J.  J.  McNa- 
mara. The  officer  said:  "I  am  a  Detective  Sergeant 
from  Headquarters,  and  I  want  to  see  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara and  Herbert  S.  Hockin." 


THE    MASKED    WAR  203 

McNamara  said,  "I'm  the  man." 

"Well,"  said  the  Sergeant,  "the  Chief  would  like 
to  see  you." 

McNamara  said,  "Very  well."  He  walked  over 
and  had  a  talk  with  President  Ryan,  of  the  Iron 
Workers,  and  said  to  him:  "They're  after  me. 
What  had  I  better  do  about  it?"  Ryan  advised 
him  to  go  ahead.  McNamara  put  on  his  coat  and 
hat.  He  then  made  an  excuse  that  he  wanted  to 
leave  the  keys  to  his  desk  there,  and  this  was  the 
only  slip  that  occurred  in  the  entire  arrangement, 
for  in  that  time  J.  J.  McNamara  was  permitted  to 
divest  himself  of  the  keys  of  the  lower  vault  found 
in  the  cellar. 

We  then  walked  to  Police  Headquarters,  where 
the  officer  delivered  Hockin  and  J.  J.  McNamara 
to  the  Superintendent  and  Chief  of  Detectives 
Holtz.  Holtz  read  the  requisition  papers  and  the 
warrant  to  J.  J.  McNamara,  and  then  conducted 
him  before  the  Desk  Sergeant,  where  they  booked 
him  just  as  they  would  any  other  prisoner  and  then 
locked  him  up.  Later  we  took  him  before  Judge 
Collins,  the  Judge  before  whom  all  requisitions  were 
taken.  The  Judge  examined  the  papers  carefully, 
and  finding  they  were  regular  and  all  right  so 
stated,  and  then  said  that  the  next  requisite  was  the 
identification  of  J.  J.  McNamara  as  the  man  named 
in  the  warrant.  McNamara  promptly  spoke  up: 
"I  admit  that  I'm  the  man  named  in  that  warrant." 

"Very  well,  then,"  said  the  Judge,  "the  only  thing 


204  THE   MASKED   WAR 

left  for  me  to  do  is  to  turn  you  over  to  the  State 
of  California." 

Detective  Sergeant  Hoosick  then  conducted  J. 
J.  McNamara  to  an  automobile  that  was  in  waiting, 
as  it  was  feared  that  the  hidden  dynamite  at  In- 
dianapolis might  possibly  be  resorted  to  if  there 
was  any  delay  in  removing  McNamara. 

He  was  accompanied  on  his  trip  by  Detective 
Sergeant  Hoosick  of  Los  Angeles,  Detective  Ser- 
geants Guy  Biddinger  and  William  Reed,  and 
Charles  J.  Smith  of  our  Chicago  office. 

I  would  like  to  say  here,  in  passing,  that  when  I 
finally  made  up  my  mind  to  round  up  the  McNa- 
maras  and  McManigal,  I  called  on  Captain  Steve 
Woods,  who  was  then  in  charge  of  Detective  Head- 
quarters at  Chicago,  and  who,  by  the  way,  was  one 
of  the  best  and  most  efficient  men  they  ever  had  in 
that  position.  I  explained  to  him  that  I  was  about 
to  round  up  the  dynamiters  of  the  Los  Angeles 
Times  and  that  I  wanted  to  have  detailed  to  me 
Detective  Sergeants  Guy  Biddinger  and  William 
Reed.  He  promptly  stated  that  he  would  detail 
them,  and  would  notify  them  to  respond  when  called 
upon,  and  that  he  would  aid  in  any  way  he  possibly 
could  in  their  apprehension.  I  then  instructed  my 
son,  Raymond,  that  when  the  arrest  took  place  the 
men  should  not  be  taken  to  the  station-house,  but 
should  be  taken  to  a  private  house — Reed's. 

After  J.  J.  McNamara  left  in  the  automobile,  I 
then,  in  company  with  Mayor  Schrank,  Superinten- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  205 

dent  of  Police  Highland,  Chief  of  Detectives  Holtz, 
and  Harry  M.  Friend,  of  the  Chicago  American, 
led  them  to  the  Jones  barn,  which  was  in  the  out- 
skirts of  Indianapolis.  On  reaching  there  we  found 
Jones,  who  conducted  us  to  the  barn.  On  opening 
the  door  we  found  the  piano  box  described  by  Ortie 
McManigal,  and  with  the  keys  taken  from  the 
pocket  of  J.  B.  McNamara,  I  unlocked  the  box  in 
their  presence.  In  the  piano  box  was  found  a 
second  box,  and  on  opening  that  it  was  found  half- 
filled  with  sawdust  and  a  large  quantity  of  sticks 
of  dynamite  and  a  can  of  nitroglycerin.  The  orig- 
inal brand  on  the  wrappers  of  the  dynamite  had 
been  destroyed. 

Before  this,  we  went  to  the  offices  of  the  Struc- 
tural Iron  Workers  and  made  a  search  of  them. 
We  opened  the  office  vault,  but  found  nothing  in- 
criminating. 

While  searching  there,  the  janitor  of  the  building 
came  to  me  and  said,  "Mr.  Burns,  do  you  want  to 
search  the  vault  in  the  cellar?"  I  replied  that  we 
did,  and  he  promptly  conducted  us  to  a  specially 
constructed  vault  in  the  cellar  of  the  building,  but 
for  this  he  did  not  have  the  keys.  Superintendent 
Highland  was  about  to  wrench  the  lock,  when  a 
person  calling  himself  a  lawyer  showed  up  on  the 
scene,  and  remonstrated  and  denied  the  right  of 
the  Superintendent  to  open  that  vault  under  the 
search  warrant  the  Superintendent  then  had.  Mr. 
Highland,   wanting   to   be   perfectly   fair,   left   an 


206  THE    MASKED    WAR 

officer  in  charge  of  the  vault,  returned  to  the  Police 
Station  and  secured  a  special  search  warrant  for 
that  vault.  When  he  returned,  the  lock  was 
wrenched  from  the  door,  and  on  entering,  accom- 
panied by  the  janitor,  we  found  two  large  packages 
of  dynamite,  weighing  92  pounds,  with  the  corners 
conveniently  torn  for  the  purpose  of  inserting  the 
wire  from  clock  bombs.  They  were  wrapped  ex- 
actly like  those  described  by  our  operatives  at  Chi- 
cago as  having  been  carried  by  J.  B.  McNamara 
and  Ortie  McManigal. 

In  addition,  we  found  14  alarm  clocks  exactly 
like  those  used  on  the  bombs  at  Peoria  and  Los 
Angeles,  together  with  a  large  amount  of  fulminat- 
ing caps  and  all  the  paraphernalia  that  went  to 
make  up  the  bombs,  as  well  as  a  large  quantity  of 
fuse.  We  also  found  a  great  mass  of  correspond- 
ence which,  on  investigation,  was  found  to  be  letters 
from  various  business  agents  throughout  the  coun- 
try to  J.  J.  McNamara  requesting  that  the  wrecking 
crew  be  sent  them  to  carry  on  certain  work,  indicat- 
ing, of  course,  dynamiting  jobs. 

McNamara,  in  his  methodical  way,  and  for  some 
unknown  reason,  replied  to  these  letters,  stating 
they  would  arrive  there  at  a  certain  time,  and  then 
transcribed  the  answers  on  the  back  of  the  letters 
and  filed  them  away.  Many  persons,  since  the  trial 
at  Indianapolis,  have  expressed  the  greatest  surprise 
that  a  man  engaged  in  such  nefarious  work  should 
have  been  guilty  of  such  an  asinine  trick.    The  reply 


THE    MASKED    WAR  207 

to  this  is,  that  McNamara  had  no  idea  that  the 
persons  engaged  in  running  down  the  dynamiters 
of  the  Los  Angeles  Times  would  dare  to  intrude 
into  the  sanctum  of  the  Structural  Iron  Workers' 
Union. 

A  tremendous  effort  was  then  made  by  the  union's 
lawyer  to  prevent  the  correspondence  from  being 
carried  away.  He  had  evidently  received  a  "hunch" 
from  some  person  other  than  J.  J.  McNamara  as 
to  how  important  it  was,  but  thanks  to  Superinten- 
dent Highland  and  his  assistants,  nothing  was  over- 
looked and  it  was  all  carried  to  the  Police  Station. 
The  following  day  we  carried  the  dynamite  and  the 
nitroglycerin  into  the  country,  on  a  second  visit,  and 
buried  the  nitroglycerin  and  cached  the  dynamite, 
care  being  taken  to  mark  everything  for  identifica- 
tion. 

Superintendent  Highland  demanded  admission  to 
the  safe  in  the  office  of  the  Structural  Iron  Workers, 
which  was  denied  him,  and  he  then  sent  for  an  ex- 
pert safeman,  who  drilled  the  safe  and  opened  it. 

In  the  meantime,  the  partisans  of  J.  J.  McNa- 
mara held  a  counsel  and  decided  that  they  ought 
to  get  busy  and  put  up  a  defense.  They  expressed, 
in  the  loudest  way  they  could,  and  with  as  much 
noise  as  possible,  the  conviction  that  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara had  been  kidnapped  and  the  offices  of  the 
Union  had  been  unlawfully  invaded.  President 
Ryan  also  made  the  charge  that  a  sum  of  money 
that  was  in  a  drawer  in  the  office  had  disappeared, 


208  THE    MASKED    WAR 

and  intimated  that  some  of  the  officers  must  have 
taken  it. 

I  then  proceeded  to  Tiffin,  Ohio,  called  on  the 
Chief  of  Police,  and  together  we  went  to  the  barn 
of  Ortie  McManigal's  father,  in  the  outskirts  of 
Tiffin,  and  here  we  found  a  box  of  dynamite. 

I  then  proceeded  to  Toledo,  Ohio,  and  at  the 
railroad  station,  in  company  with  Chief  of  Police 
Harry  Knapp,  found  J.  B.  McNamara's  suitcase, 
which  had  been  used  for  carrying  explosives,  and 
which  was  thoroughly  soaked  with  nitroglycerin. 

We  returned  to  Indianapolis  and  sent  for  More- 
hart,  who  hurried  from  Muncie,  and  identified  the 
nitroglycerin  that  had  been  found  in  the  Jones  barn 
as  part  of  that  sold  by  him  to  Ortie  McManigal. 
He  also  identified  the  can.  Our  operatives  and 
the  Police  at  Indianapolis  made  a  search  of  the  room 
of  J.  J.  McNamara,  and  there  found  one  of  the 
time  clocks  such  as  they  used  on  the  bomb,  and 
several  other  incriminating  articles. 

The  newspaper  men,  immediately  after  the  arrest 
at  Indianapolis,  strongly  urged  me  to  give  them 
some  details  of  the  incriminating  evidence  found, 
which  I  declined  to  do,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
not  fair  to  the  prosecuting  attorney  nor  fair  to  the 
defendant  that  we  discuss  that  previous  to  his  trial, 
but  within  a  short  time  they  came  to  me  with  a 
statement  made  by  Samuel  Gompers,  President  of 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  who  was  inter- 
viewed at  Pittsburgh,  and  who  intimated  that  it  was 


THE    MASKED   WAR  209 

a  "frame-up,"  by  myself,  and  that  the  dynamite  had 
been  planted  where  it  was  found. 

Offended  by  the  slander  that  had  been  uttered 
by  Gompers,  and  knowing  that  it  was  calculated  to 
inflame  the  minds  of  some  irresponsible  persons 
who  might  seek  to  revenge  themselves  on  me  per- 
sonally, I  went  into  details  and  pointed  out  that  if 
it  was  a  frame-up,  J.  J.  McNamara,  his  brother, 
J.  B.  McNamara,  and  Ortie  McManigal  had 
framed  it  up,  as  the  keys  which  opened  the  box  at 
the  Jones  barn — Jones  being  a  member  of  the 
Structural  Iron  Workers'  Union — were  taken  from 
the  pocket  of  J.  B.  McNamara.  We  found  where 
the  keys  had  been  purchased  at  Indianapolis.  The 
keys  which  unlocked  the  box  in  the  McManigal 
barn  at  Tiffin  had  also  been  taken  from  the  pocket 
of  J.  B.  McNamara.  Therefore,  all  the  plans  had 
been  shown,  conclusively,  to  have  been  arranged  by 
J.  J.  McNamara,  J.  B.  McNamara  and  Ortie  Mc- 
Manigal. 

Gompers  subsequently  came  to  Indianapolis,  and 
again  denounced  me  in  the  strongest  terms,  and 
subsequently  many  of  the  labor  organizations 
throughout  the  country  passed  resolutions  condemn- 
ing me,  and  the  same  was  taken  up  by  Socialists 
throughout  the  country,  who,  on  the  street  corners, 
uttered  the  same  denunciations  and  the  same 
charges.  The  following  Labor  Day,  throughout  the 
country,  was  dedicated  to  the  McNamara  Brothers, 
and  collections  taken  up  all  over  the  country.     In 


210  THE    MASKED    WAR 

the  parades  American  flags  were  carried  through 
the  streets,  and  the  coins  and  contributions  solicited 
were  tossed  into  the  American  flags.  I  was  the  re- 
cipient of  hundreds  of  anonymous  letters  denounc- 
ing me  and  threatening  my  life. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

PETER    CURRAN'S    CLASSIC    LETTER 

The  detective  story  of  fiction  would  end  with  the 
arrests  of  the  guilty  men  in  the  case,  but  in  real  life 
the  detective  who  keeps  a  clear  head  on  his  shoul- 
ders knows  that  before  him  is  one  of  the  hardest 
stretches  of  his  task.  He  is  morally  certain  of 
the  guilt  of  the  men  he  has  placed  in  jail,  but  he 
must  have  enough  evidence  to  make  twelve  jurors 
be  certain  of  their  guilt  also  or  his  work  will  go 
for  nothing.  Moreover,  he  will  have  to  watch  with 
the  eye  of  a  hawk  to  see  that  his  witnesses  are  not 
bribed  or  spirited  away  from  him.  He  must  see 
to  it  that  his  assistants  are  not  tempted  with  large 
sums  of  money  to  "throw"  the  case  and  in  the 
dynamiting  trials  we  had  the  further  job  of  pre- 
venting the  bribery  of  jurors. 

We  did  not  slow  up  for  a  moment  in  this  work, 
for  in  this  masked  war  against  society  there  were, 
besides  the  McNamaras,  the  38  union  "leaders" 
afterward  found  guilty  of  conspiracy  in  the  Federal 
trials  at  Indianapolis.  It  was  no  one-man  con- 
spiracy but  was  nation-wide. 

While  the  McNamaras  and  McManigal  were 
being  hurried  to  Los  Angeles  I  sent  a  careful  opera- 

211 


212  THE    MASKED    WAR 

tive  post  haste  to  Cincinnati  and  to  the  little  home 
of  the  McNamaras  in  Quarry  Street  in  the  Cum- 
minsville  section.  A  search  warrant  was  secured 
and  in  the  McNamara  home  he  found  more  elec- 
trical apparatus  and  letters  referring  to  various  dy- 
namiting jobs  done  at  the  order  of  J.  J. 

I  and  my  operatives  uncovered  the  various  depots 
for  explosives  established  by  the  dynamiters  besides 
the  one  I  told  of  in  the  Jones  barn.  We  traced  the 
piano  box  found  in  this  cache  back  to  its  maker  and 
connected  its  purchase  with  the  union  officials. 

In  Muncie,  Ind.,  we  found  a  house  rented  by  the 
dynamiters  for  the  storage  of  nitroglycerin  and 
here  was  required  patient  work  by  my  operatives. 
The  last  of  the  explosive  had  been  used  from  this 
depot,  but  the  floor  of  the  room,  where  the  cans 
of  nitro  had  been  placed,  showed  the  greasy 
stains  from  the  sweating  of  the  tins.  That  floor 
would  make  an  exhibit  in  court.  The  owner  of  the 
house  was  about  to  rent  it  and  the  tenant  was 
anxious  to  get  into  the  place.  That  meant  scrub- 
bing the  greasy  floor,  of  course.  Scrubbing  the 
floor  would  have  meant  the  wiping  out  of  the  evi- 
dence. There  was  one  way  to  preserve  it.  We 
were  rather  shy  of  money,  having  spent  a  great 
deal  in  the  investigation,  and  I  could  not  afford  to 
buy  the  house.  We  made  a  dicker  with  the  owner 
and  agreed  to  give  him  a  new  floor  for  the  room  if 
he  gave  us  the  old.  This  agreed  to,  my  operatives 
numbered  each  board  of  the  floor,   after  making 


THE    MASKED    WAR  213 

photographs  of  it,  and  took  it  up  and  carried  it  to 
a  place  of  safety. 

Occasionally  an  operative  at  work  on  the  case 
would  develop  material  that  would  raise  a  smile. 
We  did  not  have  any  time  to  spare  for  a  good 
laugh,  however  absurd  a  thing  might  be,  but  funny 
things  occasionally  do  happen  even  in  the  business 
of  detecting  crime  and  criminals.  Investigator  No. 
31  was  sent  to  an  open  lot  at  the  corner  of  Morgan 
and  Van  Buren  Streets,  Chicago,  to  dig  for  a  box 
McManigal  had  buried  as  a  handy  cache  for  explo- 
sives. Digging  for  dynamite  is  a  ticklish  business. 
The  tip  of  a  pick  or  the  edge  of  a  shovel  might 
strike  hard  enough  to  rip  a  hole  in  the  ground  and 
send  the  investigator  into  the  air.  No.  31  gingerly 
went  at  his  task  and  finally  found  a  box  at  about 
the  depth  described  by  McManigal.  Elated,  he 
rushed  to  the  nearest  telephone  and  informed  our 
Chicago  office  of  the  find.  My  son,  Raymond,  the 
manager  of  the  ofiice,  hurried  to  the  scene  to  wit- 
ness the  uncovering  of  the  box  of  dynamite.  The 
broken  earth  was  removed  and  the  box  drawn  from 
the  hole.  The  lid  was  lifted  and  instead  of  dyna- 
mite was  found  the  body  of  a  dog.  Some  youngster, 
perhaps,  had  given  his  dead  pet  a  decent  burial. 

The  dog  was  reinterred,  No.  31  looked  sheepish, 
Raymond  returned  to  his  office  and  a  day's  work 
went  for  a  laugh. 

From  a  collection  of  many  letters  in  the  corre- 
spondence of  the  dynamiters  and  their  friends  there 


214  THE    MASKED    WAR 

was  none  that  equalled  the  friendly  epistle  written 
by  one  Peter  Curran  to  Jim  McNamara.  This 
letter  was  found  in  the  McNamara  home.  The 
envelope  showed  that  it  had  been  mailed  in  Chicago, 
June  7,  8  a.  m.,  1909. 
Here  is  the  classic: 

"Chicago,  111.  June  6,   1909. 
"Dear  friend  Mc: 

"I  received  your  postal  and  was  glad  to  hear 
from  you.  I  am  still  at  the  Rosena  Hotel.  The 
night  cleark  that  was  thur  wen  you  were  ther  got 
into  a  sirkes  girl's  room  and  Miss  Horton  found 
it  out  and  fired  him.  Jim  and  Eral  is  working  at 
bumpers.  They  can  get  pleanty  orders  if  they  can 
do  them  cheap  anough.  Everything  is  about  the 
same  around  hear.  Old  Casper  is  moping  around 
with  the  rat  trap  as  usual.  Mrs.  Anderson  have  a 
very  sore  foot  with  roontisen.  Mrs.  Wright  moved. 
I  sean  Willie  and  he  gave  me  his  address  and  said 
to  send  it  to  you  wen  I  rote.  6817  So.  Chicago 
Ave.  It  was  very  cold  hear  all  spring.  Have  not 
much  new  to  tell  you  lot  of  building  gowing  up. 
You  must  excuse  me  for  not  writing  sooner.  Let 
me  now  how  you  are  getting  along  and  how  is 
your  mother  is  and  if  you   are  tire  of  Cincinatia 

yet?  "Your  truly 

"Peter  Curran 

"Rosena  Hotel 
"corner  18th  St.  and  Wabaush," 


THE    MASKED    WAR  215 

While  my  operatives  were  in  the  Cumminsville 
section  of  Cincinnati,  securing  correspondence  and 
information  for  the  preparation  of  the  case  for  the 
people,  they  hunted  up  the  records,  church  and  civil, 
of  the  McNamara  family.  My  purpose  was  to 
leave  nothing  of  their  lives  covered.  For  the 
mother  of  these  two  prisoners  we  had  nothing  but 
sympathy.  She  had  ever  been  a  hard  working, 
religious,  good  woman  and  in  her  old  age  she  was 
to  suffer  the  sorrow  of  having  two  of  her  sons 
bring  her  head  down  in  disgrace. 

But  the  mother  of  the  McNamaras  had  had  sor- 
row and  bitter  sorrow  before.  Her  husband  was 
a  drunken  and  quarrelsome  man  and  sank  into 
viciousness.  He  was  arrested  charged  with  a  crime 
of  such  a  nature  that  it  can  only  be  referred  to  as 
moral  turpitude.  He  was  convicted  and  sentenced 
to  prison  for  life.  Through  the  efforts  of  J.  J. 
McNamara  he  was  released  from  prison  about 
1909.  He  never  returned  to  his  home  and  is  said 
to  be  living  in  Columbus,  Ohio.  Before  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara and  J.  B.  McNamara  were  arrested  they 
are  said  to  have  supplied  him  with  funds  sufficient 
to  keep  him  going. 

In  the  records  of  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Cummins- 
ville, we  found  that  John  Joseph  McNamara  was 
born  December  23rd,  1876,  and  that  James  Barna- 
bas McNamara  was  born  June  2nd,  1882.  There 
were  two  other  boys,  Robert  A.  and  Daniel  F. 
There  were  two  girls  also,  Alice  and  Marie. 


216  THE    MASKED    WAR 

We  found  that  J.  B.  McNamara  had  been  sent 
to  a  House  of  Refuge  as  an  incorrigible  when  he 
was  a  boy.  Another  interesting  discovery  was  made 
in  the  search  for  incidents  of  his  childhood  days. 
His  great  boyhood  friend  was  named  Bryce.  J. 
B.'s  mother  did  the  washing  for  the  Bryce  family. 
It  was  from  familiarity  with  the  name  Bryce  that 
he  chose  the  alias  "J.  B.  Bryce,"  when  he  went  to 
the  Coast  to  destroy  the  Los  Angeles  Times.  As 
a  boy  he  had  a  reputation  for  evil.  He  was  always 
in  deviltry  and  was  considered  a  tough  one.  When 
the  name  "J.  B.  Bryce"  began  to  appear  in  the 
papers  in  connection  with  the  crime  at  Los  Angeles 
some  of  his  mother's  neighbors  declared  that  the 
Bryce  was  not  the  real  James  Bryce  but  was  Jim 
McNamara.  In  time  we  found  the  real  James 
Bryce  and  had  him  for  a  witness  to  show  why  J.  B. 
McNamara  would  use  this  name.  Of  course  we 
had  signatures  on  hotel  registers  showing  the  "J. 
B.  Bryce"  we  had  been  seeking  and  we  also  had 
signatures  of  J.  B.  McNamara  which  showed  that 
the  same  hand  wrote  both  names.  We  followed  the 
careers  of  J.  J.  and  J.  B.  from  their  birth  to  the 
day  of  their  arrest  and  at  no  time  was  there  a 
single  chance  under  the  sun  of  their  getting,  fairly, 
any  other  verdict  than  guilty  from  twelve  men. 
Their  only  hope  was  bribery  and  corruption  and 
the  intimidation  and  kidnapping  of  witnesses.  How 
I  fought  the  crooked  plans  operated  for  them 
while  they  waited  trial  will  take  several  subsequent 


THE    MASKED    WAR  217 

chapters.  At  present  I  shall  continue  with  the  dis- 
closures of  the  personal  side  of  the  lives  of  these 
two  prisoners,  following,  step  by  step,  the  down- 
ward career  of  each. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

JIM  MCNAMARA   LOSES    HIS   NERVE 

The  career  of  J.  B.  McNamara,  the  younger  of 
the  two  brothers,  was  just  the  sort  of  career  any 
of  his  friends  might  have  predicted  for  him.  In- 
corrigible in  youth,  he  grew  up  to  be  regardless  of 
all  decency  and  law.  Physically  he  was  weak  and 
of  the  tubercular  type.  He  could  not  stand  dissipa- 
tion and  went  down  under  it,  lower  and  lower. 

The  younger  man  became  a  printer  and  got  a 
smattering  of  learning,  but  not  enough  to  help  him 
out  of  the  dregs  into  which  he  had  quickly  dropped. 
Although  a  great  deal  of  money  was  paid  to  him 
from  the  union  treasury  by  his  brother  he  never 
saved  a  cent  of  it  or  put  a  cent  of  it  to  any  other 
use  than  buying  liquor  or  the  favors  of  the  lowest 
type  of  women.  Immediately  following  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Times  Building  and  the  killing  of  the 
twenty-one  people  who  perished  through  his  act, 
he  left  Los  Angeles  for  San  Francisco  and  celebrated 
his  terrible  act  by  scattering  money  about  in  the 
lowest  of  drinking  dives,  spending  it  on  women  of 
the  streets,  negro  singers  and  cafe  musicians.  He 
had  no  conscience,   no  trace  of  it.      He  did  have 

218 


THE    MASKED    WAR  219 

fear  at  times  when  he  would  sober  up  and  the  list 
of  his  crimes  would  come  before  his  mind's  eye. 
He  had  this  fear  in  the  woods  of  Wisconsin  after 
his  pals  left  him.  Once  again  he  had  it  and  he  had 
it  so  greatly  that  he  went  to  pieces.  He  knew  that 
the  Burns  agency  had  been  employed  to  investigate 
the  destruction  of  the  Times,  but  months  had  gone 
by  and  he  had  never  uncovered  a  shadow  and  there 
had  been  no  hint  that  he  or  his  brother  was  sus- 
pected. Still,  at  times,  he  would  ask  himself  if  it 
was  not  possible  that  some  one  was  watching  him 
and  that  among  his  drunken  friends  there  was  a 
spy. 

The  occasion  when  J.  B.'s  nerve  gave  way  com- 
pletely was  when  he  was  in  Ballagh,  Neb.,  soon 
after  the  Times  disaster.  He  was  met  there  on  a 
special  trip  by  a  friend  from  Cumminsville,  named 
Frank  Eckhoff.  J.  B.  was  keeping  under  cover  by 
order  of  J.  J.  until  he  could  connect  with  McMani- 
gal  for  the  trip  to  the  wilds  of  Wisconsin. 

The  first  day  the  two  were  in  Ballagh  together, 
J.  B.  caved  in  and  asked  Eckhoff  to  kill  him.  He 
was  seated  in  the  kitchen  of  the  boarding  place,  a 
Savage  automatic  gun  hanging  on  his  breast  from  a 
strap.  He  could  have  slipped  the  weapon  from  its 
holster  and  ended  his  life  in  a  second,  but  he  did 
not  have  the  nerve  to  do  it. 

"I  want  you  to  go  out  hunting  with  me  and  kill 
me,"  he  told  Eckhoff.  "You  can  say  it  was  acci- 
dental and  it  will  be  getting  me  out  of  this  trouble 


220  THE   MASKED   WAR 

easily.    I  KNOW  THEY  ARE  GOING  TO  GET 

ME!" 

Eckhoff  declined  to  kill  him. 

J.  B.  had  already  told  Eckhoff  that  he  and  an 
Anarchist  had  blown  up  the  Times  and  had  related 
to  him  how  he  had  wrenched  off  the  gas  pipes  so 
that  the  smell  would  give  the  impression  that  the 
explosion  was  caused  by  escaping  gas. 

The  days  they  spent  in  Nebraska  gave  J.  B.  much 
time  for  reflection  and  he  saw  where  he  had  made 
many  mistakes  that  should  not  have  been  made.  He 
recalled  that  he  had  left  some  laundry  in  Los  An- 
geles and  that  it  had  the  initials  "J.  McN."  on  it. 

"They  will  get  me  on  that  damned  laundry,"  he 
blurted  out  one  day.  "I'll  bet  there  are  detectives 
going  around  to  every  laundry  shop  in  the  United 
States  to  see  who  that  stuff  belonged  to." 

He  was  not  very  far  off  on  that  conjecture  for 
we  did  catch  up  with  his  laundry  with  the  telltale 
initials. 

The  fear  of  the  gallows  had  crept  into  the  heart 
of  this  wholesale  murderer.  He  and  Eckhoff  were 
driving  in  a  buggy  near  Ballagh  when  an  automo- 
bile came  up  behind  them.  J.  B.  jumped  from  the 
rig  and  ran  and  hid  under  a  bridge,  trembling.  One 
time  he  saw  Eckhoff  smiling  and  he  turned  on  him 
savagely  and  demanded  to  know  if  he  was  going 
to  give  him  away.  Just  before  reaching  Omaha  on 
their  way  to  Cumminsville  and  the  McNamara 
home,  a  man  came  through  the  coach  asking  the 


THE    MASKED    WAR  221 

names  of  the  passengers  as  he  took  a  straw  vote  on 
the  coming  election.  This  terrified  J.  B.  for  a  mo- 
ment as  he  thought  the  man  was  a  detective  looking 
for  "J.  B.  Bryce." 

Eckhoff  took  the  dynamiter  home  and  there  J.  B. 
met  his  brother,  J.  J.,  and  told  him  about  the  for- 
gotten laundry.  J.  J.  found  J.  B.'s  remaining  hand- 
kerchiefs and  other  linen  with  initials  and  turned 
them  over  to  Eckhoff  along  with  some  batteries  and 
bits  of  fuse,  telling  him  to  burn  them  up  so  that  no 
one  could  trace  Jim  by  them.  He  also  gave  Eck- 
hoff five  alarm  clocks  to  hide.  Eckhoff  sold  them 
for  the  price  of  a  few  drinks. 

Fear  was  now  striking  at  the  heart  of  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara  also.  When  he  was  ready  to  start  back 
to  headquarters  at  Indianapolis  he  hired  Eckhoff 
to  trail  him  to  the  Cumminsville  station  so  that  he 
would  know  whether  he  was  being  shadowed.  He 
was  being  shadowed  all  right  but  so  skillfully  that 
Eckhoff  was  unable  to  uncover  the  men  having  him 
under  surveillance.  We  were  using  what  we  call 
a  "long  shadow"  on  J.  J. 

At  the  station  Eckhoff  was  paid  two  dollars  by 
J.  J.  for  this  feeble  attempt  at  uncovering  our  ex- 
pert shadows. 

Eckhoff,  who  lived  near  the  McNamara  home, 
had  known  the  family  for  years.  He  was  frequently 
used  both  by  J.  J.  and  J.  B.  as  an  assistant  in  vari- 
ous jobs  and  it  was  Eckhoff  to  whom  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara made  the  proposition  that  he  place  a  dress 


222  THE    MASKED    WAR 

suitcase  filled  with  dynamite  and  a  clock  under  the 
seat  of  a  train  and  blow  up  his  secretary,  Miss  Dye. 
This  was  during  Christmas  week  of  1 910.  J.  J. 
McNamara  had  tired  of  the  woman  and  Miss  Dye 
knew  enough  about  his  affairs  to  have  hanged  him. 
That  it  was  a  time  of  peace  on  earth  and  good  will 
to  men  did  not  lessen  the  degree  of  murder  in  the 
heart  of  J.  J.  McNamara.  He  wanted  the  woman 
blown  up  in  the  train  and  explained  to  Eckhoff  how 
he  could  set  the  clock  and  leave  the  train  at  a  sta- 
tion before  the  explosion.  The  dynamite  would 
have  killed  her,  wrecked  the  train  and  killed  many 
innocent  people  besides.  He  was  willing  to  pay 
Eckhoff  $200  for  carrying  out  his  orders  and  was 
sorry  when  Eckhoff  backed  out. 

This  brings  us  to  the  point  where  we  can  take 
up  J.  J.  McNamara's  private  life  as  our  operatives 
uncovered  it. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

J.  J.  MCNAMARA  AND   HIS   WOMEN 

J.  J.  McNamara,  sometimes  described  as  the 
brains  of  the  dynamiting  crew,  the  man  who  was 
given  an  annual  allowance  of  $12,000  to  be  ex- 
pended as  he  saw  fit  for  the  iron  workers  during 
their  strike,  had  more  capacity  for  self-education 
than  his  weakling  brother.  He  might  have  led  a 
useful  life  and  could  have  advanced  from  a  trade 
to  a  profession,  for  he  did  pass  an  examination  for 
admittance  to  practice  law.     But  he  never  practiced. 

When  he  was  made  Secretary-Treasurer  of  the 
International  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron  Workers' 
Union  he  found  himself  in  practical  control  of  the 
money  that  flowed  in  from  the  various  locals.  The 
executive  board  allowed  him  one  thousand  dollars 
a  month  to  pay  the  expenses  attendant  on  handling 
the  strike  from  headquarters.  He  could  draw  this 
money  in  almost  any  manner  he  chose,  making  out 
checks  to  cash  or  to  himself. 

While  Hockin  was  trimming  McManigal  and 
while  Eckhoff  was  selling  the  little  clocks  for  the 
price  of  drinks,  and  while  petty  graft  and  petty 
theft  were  in  progress  on  all  sides,  J.  J.  McNamara 

223 


224  THE   MASKED   WAR 

managed  to  fatten  on  the  hard-earned  money  of 
those  structural  iron  workers  who  did  actually 
work. 

Let  us  look  over  the  list  of  women  on  whom  he 
spent  good  money  of  the  union.  While  the  actual 
workingman  on  the  job  was  denying  his  own  wife 
a  new  hat  or  skirt  and  himself  the  necessities  of 
life,  so  that  he  would  keep  his  union  dues  paid  up, 
J.  J.  McNamara  was  passing  along  the  money  to 
Katherine  Kent  in  Indianapolis.  This  woman  lived 
in  a  house  kept  by  a  woman  known  as  Minnie  Gray- 
son. Katherine  Kent  was  not  only  a  courtesan,  but 
she  also  turned  out  to  be  crooked  in  other  ways, 
and  left  Indianapolis  after  being  charged  with  rob- 
bing one  of  her  male  admirers.  McNamara  was 
Katherine  Kent's  favorite  until  she  departed  the  city 
suddenly  in  order  to  avoid  a  trip  to  police  head- 
quarters. 

Then  came  a  very  interesting  creature  of  the 
gentle  sex.  Her  name  was  Katherine  also,  and  Mc- 
Namara was  devoted  to  her.  She  was  bright  and 
knowing,  and  she  became  deeply  interested  in  labor 
affairs.  She  traveled  constantly  from  one  coast  to 
the  other,  visiting  many  cities  where  open-shop 
firms  were  building.  McNamara  was  putting  her 
to  good  use  in  the  masked  warfare,  for  she  could 
get  information  at  times  without  creating  any  sus- 
picion where  a  man  would  have  had  no  chance  at 
all.  We  had  reason  to  believe  that  she  was  on  Mc- 
Namara's  pay  roll.     McNamara  was  devoted  to 


THE    MASKED    WAR  225 

her,  as  was  another  union  man,  who  came  to  meet 
her  in  the  course  of  those  affairs  which  brought  the 
two  men  together  preceding  explosions. 

Katherine  II.  had  a  big  wardrobe  for  the  aver- 
age woman,  changing  her  dress  daily,  and  she  al- 
ways had  plenty  of  money.  But  as  far  as  outsiders 
knew  she  was  a  woman  of  no  visible  means  of  sup- 
port. She  was  full  of  life  and  vim,  and  went  on 
hunting  and  fishing  trips  with  male  friends.  She 
made  a  number  of  trips  about  the  country  with  Mc- 
Namara.  Finally  the  other  union  man  asked  her  to 
marry  him.  He  evidently  gave  her  time  to  think  it 
over,  for  she  went  to  a  close  friend,  who  afterward 
became  our  informant,  and  sought  advice. 

"I  don't  love  this  man  or  care  for  him  enough 
to  marry  him,"  she  told  this  friend.  "What  shall 
I  do?" 

"Marry  him,"  advised  the  friend.  "You  will 
have  a  home,  and  this  will  prevent  you  from  be- 
coming a  tramp." 

The  mysterious  lady  of  many  country-wide  jour- 
neyings  took  the  advice.  They  were  married  in  the 
summer  of  191 1,  and  so  she  passed  from  the  life  of 
McNamara.  She  has  a  home,  but  at  this  writing 
her  husband  is  in  a  Federal  prison,  while  McNa- 
mara is  in  San  Quentin  with  fourteen  years'  impris- 
onment before  him. 

This  woman  was  not  only  bright,  but  she  was  an 
exceedingly  well  versed  woman,  and  with  signs  of 
cultivation.     In  the  light  of  what  our  operatives 


226  THE    MASKED    WAR 

learned  about  her  past  we  had  reason  to  believe 
that  her  services  came  in  handy  for  the  McNamara 
defense  just  before  the  trial  of  the  McNamaras  was 
called. 

Sometimes  detectives  for  opposing  sides  in  a  big 
case  will  strike  against  each  other  and  then  there 
generally  comes  a  real  tug  of  war.  Is  it  possible 
that  it  was  the  vivacious  and  shrewd  Miss  Kath- 
erine  II  that  caused  one  of  our  operatives  a  great 
deal  of  worry  in  Sonoma,  Cal.,  during  November  of 
191 1  ?  Operative  No.  25  wrote  to  Manager  O.  H. 
K.  at  Portland,  Ore.,  for  whom  he  was  working, 
informing  him  about  a  strange  woman  who  seemed 
to  be  getting  in  touch  with  some  witnesses  he  had  in 
his  care  for  us.     In  his  letter  he  said: 

"Now,  about  this  woman,  F.  B.  W.,  I  am  puz- 
zled, between  you  and  me.  I  was  to  her  room  to- 
night for  two  hours,  and  I  have  won  her  over  and 
jollied  her  along,  but  she  will  not  commit  herself  as 
to  what  she  is  doing  or  who  she  is,  but  she  made 
this  remark  to  me.  I  said  to  her,  'I  will  meet  you 
later  perhaps,'  and  she  said  with  a  little  laugh,  'But 
you  will  get  yours  before  then.'  I  asked  her  to  ex- 
plain, but  she  just  laughed.  She  then  said  later  to 
me:  'I  wish  we  could  be  friends;  I  like  you  very 
much,'  and  I  said,  'We  can,  can't  we?'  She  said, 
'I  wish  it  might  be  so.' 

"So  you  can  see  that  there  is  something  in  the 
wind  somewhere.  Then  she  also  said,  'Oh,  I  knew 
you  were  coming  here;  I  was  looking  for  you.'    Can 


THE    MASKED    WAR  227 

you  beat  that?     Oh,  it  is  a  nice  puzzle,  and  with 

N.  W.  being  sick  and and  his  woman,  and 

then  have  something  like  this  turn  up.  It  certainly 
has  got  me  jumping.  But  if  she  gets  anything  on 
me  she  certainly  will  have  to  see  me  first,  as  I  am 
watching  her  every  move. 

"I  settled  our  bill  for  the  week  last  night  as  I 
did  not  want  it  to  run  on.  I  do  not  think  we  will 
stay  here  over  a  week  longer,  as  it  is  pretty  expen- 
sive, but  I  will  have  to  have  more  money  before 
next  week.  With  kind  regards  and  best  wishes,  I 
remain, 

"Faithfully  yours, 

"J.  M.  F. 

"Cash  balance  on  hand  to  date,  $35.75. 

"No  Time: 

"No  expense: 

"Reported 

"Portland,   11-10-11." 

Incidentally,  we  had  a  bright  little  lady  working 
for  us  also  on  the  Coast  during  the  summer  before 
the  trial.  How  simple  and  yet  how  disarming  are 
the  methods  of  capable  women  detectives  may  be 
shown  in  one  task  she  performed  for  us.  She  was 
known  as  Operative  C.  M.,  and  her  "subject"  was 
stopping  in  the  Hotel  Manx,  San  Francisco.  Her 
duty  was  to  find  out  just  who  this  man  was.  He 
was  going  under  the  name  of  Kelly.  She  was  also 
to  find  out  the  number  of  his  room  and  report  to 
the  San  Francisco  manager. 


228  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Here  is  the  way  she  performed  the  task: 
"Investigator  C.  M.  reports  as  follows: 
"Acting  under  instructions  of  Manager  W.  A. 
M.,  at  6  p.  m.,  I  telephoned  to  the  Hotel  Manx, 
and  asked  for  Mr.  Kelly.  I  was  immediately  con- 
nected with  a  room,  and  a  male  voice  answered. 
I  said,  'What  room  is  this?'  and  the  voice  answered, 
'532.'  Then  I  said,  'That  is  the  wrong  number,' 
and  hung  up. 

"I  then  proceeded  to  the  Hotel  Manx,  accom- 
panied by  investigator  H.  M.  I  left  him  on  Powell 
Street,  in  front  of  the  hotel,  went  into  the  hotel, 
and  took  the  elevator  to  the  fifth  floor.  I  proceeded 
to  room  532,  and  knocked  on  the  door.  While  I 
stood  there  waiting  for  an  answer  a  man  who  I 
know  to  be  'Larry  Sullivan'  walked  up  behind  me, 
and  said,  'Who  are  you  looking  for?'  I  replied 
that  I  was  looking  for  a  young  lady  who  had  sent 
word  that  she  would  be  at  the  Hotel  Manx  this  aft- 
ernoon. He  said,  'Well,  you  have  the  wrong  room. 
This  is  my  room,'  and  attempted  to  become  quite 
friendly  with  me.  I  assumed  the  part  of  an  embar- 
rassed girl,  and  said  I  would  go  to  the  office,  and 
see  if  I  had  made  a  mistake  in  the  hotel.  'Sullivan' 
accompanied  me  to  the  office,  and  assisted  me  in  at- 
tempting to  locate  my  friend. 

"At  the  desk  I  asked  for  Miss  Genevieve  Van 
Hulfen,  and,  of  course,  was  told  that  she  was  not 
there. 

"I  then  left  the  hotel,  walked  north  on  Powell 


THE    MASKED    WAR  229 

Street  to  Geary,  east  on  Geary  to  Stockton,  south 
on  Stockton  to  O'Farrell,  west  on  O'Farrell  to 
Powell,  where  I  met  Investigator  H.  M. 

"I  gave  Investigator  H.  M.  the  number  of  Sulli- 
van's room,  and  returned  to  the  office  at  7  p.  m., 
at  which  time  I  discontinued. 

"No  expense. 

"Time:  one-half  day. 


it 


"Reported  S.  F., 
"July  29th,  191 1. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 

THE   TRAGEDY   OF   MARY    DYE 

When  Katherine  II  was  disposed  of,  J.  J.  Mc- 
Namara  turned  his  charms  toward  a  young  woman 
he  employed  as  a  stenographer.  Her  name  was 
Mary  Dye,  and  she  was  from  an  Ohio  town. 

Miss  Dye  was  a  quick  and  efficient  worker,  and 
employer  and  employee  got  along  famously  to- 
gether. As  they  became  more  intimate  the  formali- 
ties faded  away,  and  the  secretary-treasurer  of  the 
International  Union  and  the  stenographer  called 
each  other  by  their  first  names.  Miss  Dye  finally 
got  to  know  just  about  as  much  as  anyone  in  the 
labor  councils  knew  as  to  what  was  going  on.  J.  J. 
McNamara  first  realized  the  danger  of  this  when 
she  opened  his  mail  one  day  and  found  in  one  of 
his  letters  a  clipping  telling  about  a  dynamiting. 

"Oh,  Joe!"  exclaimed  Miss  Dye  from  her  desk, 
"what  do  you  think?  They  have  blown  up  that 
scab  job."    She  held  up  the  clipping  and  shook  it. 

It  was  then  that  McNamara  got  frightened.  He 
had  gone  too  far  with  the  girl  to  drop  her  suddenly 
and  she  knew  everything.  He  had  paid  her  various 
and  considerable  sums  of  money.  There  was  only 
one   safe   way,    and   that   was    to   kill   her.      The 

230 


THE    MASKED    WAR  231 

Christmas  week  following  this  incident  of  the  clip- 
ping she  was  to  visit  her  parents  in  Ohio.  McNa- 
mara  gave  her  the  Christmas-week  holiday  and  then 
tried  to  get  J.  B.,  his  brother,  or  Eckhoff,  to  put 
a  bomb  under  her  seat  in  the  train  and  blow  her 
to  fragments.  There  might  have  been  more  brutal 
crimes  contemplated  by  other  fiends  in  history,  but 
this  proposition  struck  me  as  being  about  as  fiendish 
as  any  I  had  ever  read  or  heard  of. 

Miss  Dye  started  out  with  a  reputation  as  a  good 
and  hard-working  girl. 

In  1909  Miss  Dye  lived  with  modesty  and  strict 
economy  in  the  Bertha  Ballard  Home  for  Working 
Girls,  No.  411  North  Delaware  Street,  Indian- 
apolis. One  of  the  aims  of  the  people  back  of  the 
Home  is  to  protect  the  working  girl  from  influences 
that  would  be  harmful  for  her.  A  girl  enjoying  the 
privileges  of  the  Home  would  have  to  bear  a  good 
reputation. 

Miss  Dye  was  bright  and  made  friends.  Her 
conduct  seemed  all  that  it  should  be,  and  she  set 
forth  to  get  employment  in  Indianapolis.  She  was 
both  stenographer  and  bookkeeper,  and  knew  her 
business  thoroughly.  She  had  little  trouble  find- 
ing a  position,  but  her  whole  life  might  have  been 
changed  for  the  better  had  she  landed  in  any  other 
office  than  the  one  she  did.  J.  J.  McNamara  em- 
ployed her,  and  she  took  up  her  duties  in  the  office 
of  the  International  Union. 

It  is  not  any  sport  to  hit  a  man  when  he  is  down 


232  THE    MASKED    WAR 

— if  you  consider  J.  J.  McNamara  worthy  of  any 
sympathetic  consideration;  but  the  man  who  was 
really  knocked  down  and  out  in  this  masked  war 
was  not  the  head  dynamiter,  but  the  honest  working- 
man  in  the  craft  of  iron  worker,  the  man  with  a 
wife  and  children,  a  job  and  a  decent  method  of 
living.  The  honest  iron  worker  was  robbed  of  his 
money  for  years  by  the  spenders  and  murderers  he 
trusted  as  officers  of  his  union,  and  his  organiza- 
tion was  set  back  a  good  twenty-five  years  by  the 
exposures  that  followed  their  arrests  and  convic- 
tion. No  honest  worker  will  enjoy  reading  the  story 
of  Mary  Dye. 

We  learned  from  the  lady  in  charge  of  the 
Home  for  Working  Girls  that  Miss  Dye  lived  there 
for  about  eighteen  months  during  1909  and  19 10. 
After  she  secured  employment  at  union  headquar- 
ters McNamara  called  on  her  at  the  Home  and  was 
received  by  her  just  as  other  girls  received  their 
men  friends.  So  far  everything  was  fair  and  open 
and  above  board.  Soon  the  other  girls  heard  from 
Miss  Dye  that  she  was  engaged  to  McNamara. 
She  called  him  "Mac,"  and  it  looked  as  if  another 
romance  was  shaping  in  the  Home. 

The  matron,  a  Miss  Hyatt,  informed  us  in  our 
investigation  that  McNamara's  intentions  seemed 
to  be  of  the  best.  She  and  the  girls  in  the  Home 
had  every  reason  to  believe  them  so,  especially  after 
McNamara  sent  his  mother,  one  of  his  sisters  and 
a  brother  to  visit  the  girl  in  the  Home. 


THE    MASKED    WAR  233 

If  J.  J.  McNamara  was  really  in  love  with  this 
girl  it  seems  inconceivable  that  the  affair  should  end 
as  it  did.  If  this  manner  of  approach  to  her  was 
designed  to  bring  about  her  betrayal  then  the  man's 
heart  was  about  as  black  as  it  is  possible  for  a  hu- 
man to  carry  in  his  breast.  McNamara's  people 
visited  Miss  Dye  more  than  once,  and  this  served 
to  wipe  out  any  possibility  of  suspicion  on  the  part 
of  the  matron  and  the  girl's  chums. 

Miss  Dye  could  be  trusted,  under  the  circum- 
stances, and  so  when  she  absented  herself  from  the 
Home  for  days  at  a  time  nothing  was  thought  of  it. 
She  did  really  visit  Mrs.  McNamara  in  Cummins- 
ville,  but  at  other  times  she  was  away  on  trips  with 
the  secretary-treasurer  of  the  International.  She 
explained  that  her  duties  compelled  her  to  visit  dif- 
ferent cities  and  she  told  Miss  Hyatt  at  various 
times  incidents  that  happened  when  she  was  away. 
These  incidents  showed  how  faithful  the  girl  was  to 
her  lover.  She  told  Miss  Hyatt  on  one  occasion 
that  when  she  was  in  Cleveland  McNamara  met 
President  Ryan  at  the  depot  by  telegraphic  appoint- 
ment. Miss  Dye  went  with  him  to  meet  Ryan  and 
stood  off  at  a  distance.  The  two  labor  men  got  in 
conversation  and  she  noticed  two  men  who  managed 
to  get  close  to  them.  Her  suspicions  were  aroused 
and  she  watched  them  until  she  felt  certain  that 
they  were  detectives.  Then  she  went  to  McNamara 
and  told  him  that  he  was  being  watched. 

On  another  occasion  Miss  Dye  told  Miss  Hyatt 


234  THE    MASKED    WAR 

that  she  had  received  a  note  asking  her  to  come  to 
police  headquarters  in  Indianapolis.  This  was  in 
January  or  February,  19 10.  It  is  probable  that 
at  this  time  McNamara  was  getting  a  little  tired 
of  the  girl,  but  the  girl  was  still  staunch  and  faith- 
ful. The  Indianapolis  detectives,  she  told  Miss 
Hyatt,  made  her  an  offer  of  $5,000  cash  for  a  cer- 
tain letter  in  McNamara's  files.  They  offered  to 
give  her  this  money  if  she  got  the  letter  to  head- 
quarters for  only  a  half  hour.  They  promised  its 
safe  return  to  her  and  she  could  replace  it  in  the 
files  of  the  union's  secretary-treasurer.  She  refused 
the  offer. 

Employer  and  employee  were  now  living  a  life 
which  required  frequent  explanations  on  the  part 
of  the  girl  if  she  was  to  remain  in  the  Home  and 
pass  as  an  unmarried  woman.  To  some  of  her 
friends  she  said  that  she  was  married  to  the  labor 
man,  and  she  showed  some  of  them  the  picture  of 
a  baby  boy  which  she  said  was  her  son.  To  Miss 
Hyatt  she  said  that  the  picture  was  that  of  her  little 
brother.  Finally  she  withdrew  from  the  Home  and 
took  a  room  at  No.  207  North  Street,  where  Mc- 
Namara had  a  room.  During  this  time  McNamara 
had  been  pretty  lavish  with  the  union's  funds  and 
had  given  Miss  Dye  $300  in  a  lump  sum  at  one 
time,  quite  a  cash  gift  for  a  working  girl. 

In  the  North  Street  house  just  the  sort  of  com- 
plication that  would  be  caused  by  a  man  of  McNa- 
mara's caliber  came  about.     He  had  exerted  his 


THE    MASKED    WAR  235 

charms  to  win  the  landlady,  and  he  won  her.  She 
was  in  love  with  him,  very  much  in  love  with  him, 
we  learned  from  other  lodgers.  So  when  Miss  Dye 
came  to  the  house  this  "heart-breaking"  dynamiter 
had  two  ladies  hanging  at  his  heels.  Hockin,  Jim 
McNamara  and  other  men  visited  J.  J.  in  this  house, 
and  they  would  remain  there  for  days  at  a  time 
when  there  was  anything  important  afoot.  When 
McNamara  was  out  of  town,  on  one  of  his  trips, 
he  would  send  letters  and  postcards  to  the  lovesick 
landlady  daily. 

J.  J.  managed  to  keep  the  two  women  apart  for 
some  time,  but  his  room  connected  with  that  occu- 
pied by  Miss  Dye,  and  the  landlady  became  jealous. 
There  was  a  scene  between  the  women,  and  Miss 
Dye  was  ordered  from  the  house.  She  went  away, 
but  returned  later  and  showed  the  landlady  what 
she  said  was  a  marriage  certificate,  telling  her  that 
she  and  J.  J.  had  been  married  in  Cincinnati. 

McNamara  now  wanted  to  get  rid  of  Miss  Dye, 
but  she  hung  on.  He  had  plenty  of  the  union's 
money  to  pay  her,  but  she  wanted  something  other 
than  money.  She  had  given  him  everything  a 
woman  could  give  a  man  and  was  now  being  cast 
into  the  discard.  McNamara  finally  froze  out  the 
girl.  To  get  rid  of  her  he  kept  his  office  closed  for 
a  month,  only  using  it  in  the  night  time. 

Miss  Dye  was  without  a  job  and  without  her 
lover.  She  became  acquainted  with  a  man  named 
Meyers,    and    McNamara    heard    of    this.      This 


27,6  THE    MASKED    WAR 

knowledge  promised  him  a  means  of  getting  rid  of 
the  girl  for  all  time.  He  sent  word  to  Cummins- 
ville  for  Frank  Eckhoff,  his  odd-jobs  man,  to  come 
to  Indianapolis.  We  secured  an  affidavit  backed  by 
evidence  from  Eckhoff  which  gave  us  the  story  of 
how  McNamara,  by  the  most  heartless  means, 
finally  got  rid  of  the  girl. 

"J.  J.  told  me  when  I  reached  headquarters," 
swore  Eckhoff,  "that  he  wanted  me  to  shadow  Miss 
Dye  and  a  man  named  Meyers.  He  described  her 
to  me  and  told  me  what  kind  of  clothes  she  wore  so 
that  I  could  pick  her  out.  He  said  that  she  seemed 
to  be  able  to  spot  every  other  man  he  sent  to 
shadow  her,  and  explained  to  me  that  as  I  was 
short  she  would  not  find  it  so  easy  to  spot  me.  I 
had  seen  Miss  Dye  a  number  of  times,  as  he  had 
brought  her  to  his  mother's  home  in  Quarry  Street, 
Cumminsville. 

"After  receiving  J.  J.'s  instruction  I  went  out,  and 
at  1 1  o'clock  at  night  I  picked  up  Miss  Dye  stand- 
ing on  a  street  corner  with  the  man  named  Meyers. 
They  went  to  the  Hotel  Morton,  and  I  followed 
them.  They  registered  under  their  right  names  and 
took  separate  rooms.  Then  I  went  over  to  J.  J.'s 
office  and  told  him  where  the  two  were  stopping. 
Hockin  then  went  over  to  the  hotel  and  found  out 
what  floor  they  had  their  rooms  on.  He  got  a 
room  for  me  on  the  same  floor. 

"I  went  to  the  room  under  the  name  of  'Willis' 
and  took  a  position  where  I  could  watch  them  that 


THE    MASKED    WAR  237 

night.  I  remained  the  next  day  and  night,  watching 
them. 

"Miss  Dye  and  Meyers  went  to  a  show  the  sec- 
ond night,  and  when  they  returned  they  both  went 
to  Miss  Dye's  room.  I  called  up  J.  J.,  who  was 
waiting  in  his  office  at  union  headquarters,  and  told 
him.  He  said  for  me  to  stay  there  and  watch, 
which  I  did.  Then  I  called  him  up  again.  He  told 
me  to  come  over  to  his  office  and  I  went.  Hockin, 
J.  J.  and  I  then  went  over  to  the  hotel  together. 
Hockin  got  a  boy  to  take  a  fake  telegram  to  Miss 
Dye's  room,  and  when  she  opened  the  door  J.  J. 
pushed  his  way  in. 

"Meyers  was  not  there.     She  was  alone. 

"J.  J.  remained  in  her  room  talking,  and  then 
came  to  my  room,  where  Hockin  and  I  were  wait- 
ing. He  did  not  tell  us  what  Miss  Dye  had  said, 
but  he  said  practically  that  she  would  not  bother 
him  any  more.  He  told  me  that  he  wanted  to  get 
her  on  a  charge  of  blackmail.  He  said  he  had 
given  her  $300  on  account  of  one  child,  and  that 
she  wanted  $300  more,  claiming  that  he  was  the  fa- 
ther of  another  child.  He  said  that  it  was  for  this 
reason  that  he  wanted  to  catch  her  with  Meyers. 
J.  J.  and  Hockin  left,  and  I  remained  in  the  hotel. 
I  heard  Miss  Dye  making  a  complaint  that  there 
was  a  man  in  room  60  who  was  spotting  her,  and 
so  I  got  out  and  found  a  room  elsewhere.  J.  J. 
gave  me  five  dollars  cash  for  this  work  and  paid 
my  expenses." 


238  THE    MASKED    WAR 

That  ends  the  romance  of  Miss  Dye  of  Marietta, 
Ohio. 

J.  J.  McNamara  having  failed  to  bring  about  her 
murder,  murdered  what  reputation  she  had  left 
after  he  had  finished  with  her. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 

THE   STORY   OF   THE    ODD-JOBS    MAN 

The  most  careful  of  criminals  will  leave  an  open- 
ing for  their  detection  at  some  time  or  other.  For 
five  years  of  the  masked  war  the  McNamaras  and 
their  fellow  conspirators  covered  their  work  very 
well.  But  their  success  became  their  undoing.  They 
became  brazen  and  careless.  In  the  handling  of 
Frank  Eckhoff,  the  odd-jobs  man,  both  the  McNa- 
maras were  so  disregardful  of  their  own  interests 
that  in  the  end  they  gave  him  to  us  as  one  of  our 
most  important  witnesses. 

Eckhoff  was  a  weak  brother,  content  with  small 
jobs  and  small  pay,  and  not  used  to  large  sums.  He 
was  no  two-hundred-dollar  man,  as  was  J.  B.  Mc- 
Namara  or  McManigal.  Fifty  dollars  was  a  large 
sum  to  him. 

After  the  arrests  of  the  McNamaras  and  Mc- 
Manigal we  heard  of  the  intimate  friendship  be- 
tween J.  B.  McNamara  and  a  Cumminsville  man. 
All  that  we  knew  was  that  the  man's  name  was 
Frank,  and  that  he  lived  in  Cincinnati  somewhere. 
I  sent  operatives  to  that  city  to  find  this  one 
"Frank"  from  the  many  other  "Franks"  there. 

239 


240  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Of  course,  by  elimination,  we  got  down  to  only 
those  men  having  Frank  for  a  first  name  and  who 
were  known  to  the  McNamara  family.  We  finally 
got  Frank  Eckhoff.  Agents  for  the  McNamaras 
had  reached  him  ahead  of  us,  but  they  had  done  the 
work  of  boys.  They  got  him  to  sign  a  statement 
that  he  had  never  helped  the  McNamaras  blow  up 
any  places  or  was  paid  money  by  them  to  do  any 
work  of  that  sort. 

Such  a  statement  was  useless  to  the  defense.  We 
went  after  him  and  finally  prevailed  on  him  to  tell 
everything  that  he  knew.  We  got  a  sworn  affidavit 
from  him,  and  we  had  a  witness  who  would  fully 
back  up  the  McManigal  confession  and  drive  home 
the  charges  against  the  prisoners.  But  Eckhoff  had 
already  given  a  statement  to  the  effect  that  he  knew 
nothing  against  the  two  men,  and  we  could  not  tell 
when  he  would  turn  around  and  repudiate  his  af- 
fidavit. To  avoid  any  influences  that  the  defense 
would  start  to  bring  about  such  a  change  we  pro- 
ceeded to  isolate  Mr.  Eckhoff.  He  disappeared. 
Two  of  our  operatives  also  disappeared.  Only  the 
two  operatives,  myself  and  Raymond  Burns,  knew 
where  he  was.  The  defense  searched  high  and  low 
for  him,  but  there  was  to  be  no  capture  of  this 
prisoner  by  them.  We  were  running  no  chance  of 
having  him  rushed  away  as  Mrs.  Caplan  was 
rushed  away.  Our  operatives  kept  moving  about 
the  country  with  Eckhoff,  all  the  time  getting  from 
him  everything  that  he  could  recall  in  addition  to 


THE    MASKED    WAR  241 

what  he  had  put  in  his  affidavit.  They  went  from 
town  to  town,  leaving  no  tracks  behind  them,  but 
always  keeping  in  touch  with  me.  And  as  they  did 
this  we  had  operatives  going  over  all  the  ground 
opened  up  by  Eckhoff's  affidavit  and  verifying  every 
word  of  his  sworn  statement  just  as  we  had  verified 
the  confession  of  McManigal. 

Eliminating  the  information  given  us  by  him  con- 
cerning J.  J.  McNamara  and  Miss  Dye,  already  re- 
lated, Eckhoff's  sworn  statement  of  his  share  in  the 
masked  war  was  as  follows: 

"Frank  Eckhoff,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and 
says: 

"That  I  resided  on  Kentucky  Avenue  in  Cummins- 
ville,  Ohio,  with  my  parents  for  eight  years  previ- 
ous to  February  28th,  191 1,  on  which  date  I  was 
married  and  moved  to  my  present  address,  4168 
Hamilton  Avenue,  Cumminsville,  Ohio. 

"That  I  have  been  acquainted  with  J.  J.  McNa- 
mara, J.  B.  McNamara  and  Robert  McNamara 
and  their  family  for  the  past  eight  years.  I  am  par- 
ticularly well  acquainted  with  J.  B.  who  is  fa- 
miliarly known  to  me  as  Jim.  We  loafed  together 
a  great  deal  about  the  corners  in  the  vicinity  al- 
ready described  and  some  time  in  the  year  1908, 
J.  B.  McNamara  asked  me  if  I  wanted  to  make 
$50.  I  told  him  I  did,  and  asked  him  what  he 
wanted  me  to  do.  He  replied  evasively  by  saying 
that  it  was  a  matter  in  the  interest  of  the  unions, 


242  THE   MASKED   WAR 

and  that  he  wanted  me  to  blow  up  some  iron  work 
that  was  being  erected  by  a  non-union  firm,  the 
Riter-Conley  Company,  the  particular  job  that  he 
wanted  me  to  blow  up  being  on  Sargent  Street,  Cin- 
cinnati. I  accompanied  him  to  the  place  and  looked 
over  the  situation.  He  told  me  that  it  would  be  an 
easy  matter  to  carry  the  dynamite  down  there  and 
set  it  off,  and  if  anybody  was  in  the  neighborhood 
I  needn't  lay  it  down,  but  could  bring  it  back.  I 
told  him  that  I  was  afraid  to  do  this.  A  day  or 
two  later  I  saw  in  the  newspapers  that  this  place 
had  been  dynamited,  and  while  J.  B.  did  not  tell  me 
so,  I  was  sure  in  my  own  mind  that  he  had  done 
the  trick. 

"Some  time  subsequent  to  this,  in  the  winter  of 
1 910,  he  asked  me  to  take  a  trip  with  him  to  Pitts- 
burg, which  I  did.  We  registered  at  the  St.  Charles 
Hotel  in  Pittsburg.  I  do  not  know  what  name  he 
put  down,  but  I  registered  under  my  own  name. 
The  next  day,  after  lunch,  we  took  a  train  to  Beaver 
Falls,  got  off  and  walked  out  and  looked  over  the 
Beaver  Falls  bridge,  which  J.  B.  told  me  was  being 
erected  by  the  McClintic-Marshall  Company.  He 
pointed  out  the  place  and  said,  'That  is  the  job  we 
want  to  blow  up.' 

"Then  we  walked  to  Rochester,  and  he  conducted 
me  to  an  old  vacant  building  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
town,  near  the  river.  We  went  in  the  basement  of 
this  place,  and  he  got  a  shovel  which  he  had  hidden 
in  under  the  rafters  and  dug  up  some  earth,  then 


THE    MASKED    WAR  243 

lifted  a  board  and  showed  me  three  cans  of  stuff, 
which  he  said  was  nitroglycerin.  Then  he  went  to 
another  corner  of  the  building  where  he  dug  an- 
other can  up.  He  took,  the  stopper  out  of  this  can, 
smelled  it,  and  said  that  it  was  still  frozen.  Then 
he  replaced  all  four  cans  where  he  had  found  them. 
He  told  me  he  was  going  to  use  this  stuff  on  the 
Beaver  Falls  bridge. 

"At  the  time  he  wanted  me  to  carry  the  stuff  down 
and  blow  up  the  Cincinnati  job,  he  explained  that 
there  was  a  clockwork  attachment,  and  I  would 
have  plenty  of  time  to  set  it  down  and  get  away  as 
it  wouldn't  go  off;  if  I  did  not  set  it  down  there 
would  be  time  for  me  to  get  back  to  him  and  he 
could  disconnect  it. 

"We  walked  from  Rochester  back  to  Beaver,  got 
the  train,  and  returned  to  Pittsburg.  That  night  he 
left  me  at  Pittsburg,  and  said  he  was  going  down  to 
look  over  the  job.  He  returned  later  and  said  that 
the  place  was  so  well  guarded  that  it  was  impossible 
to  get  by  the  watchmen.  We  kept  our  room  at  the 
St.  Charles  Hotel  two  days  and  a  night  while  we 
were  making  the  trip  down  to  Rochester.  Then  he 
sent  me  back  home  and  stayed  there  himself. 

"When  he  came  back  from  Pittsburg  he  didn't 
say  anything  about  the  Beaver  Falls  job  or  any 
other  jobs  for  a  long  time.  He  came  to  me  and 
asked  me  if  I  wanted  to  do  some  work  for  him 
around  his  house,  grading  and  moving  stone,  and  I 
went  to  work  for  him." 


244  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Eckhoff  here  swore  to  the  share  he  played  in  the 
freezing  out  of  Mary  Dye  by  J.  J.  McNamara  and 
Hockin.  He  went  to  Cincinnati  after  finishing  the 
job  of  shadowing  Miss  Dye.  His  affidavit  then 
goes  on  as  follows : 

"I  loafed  around  for  a  time.  J.  B.  was  also  there 
in  Cincinnati,  and  one  day  he  told  me  that  J.  J. 
might  want  me  to  go  to  Pittsburg  for  him  in  a  few 
days,  and  I  said  I  would.  In  the  meantime  Jim 
went  out  of  town — I  don't  know  where  he  went. 
A  couple  of  days  later  I  got  a  letter  from  J.  J., 
which  I  burned,  containing  a  money  order  in  my 
name,  payable  at  Cincinnati  for  $25.  I  think  this 
was  in  April  or  May,  19 10.  In  the  letter  he  stated 
that  he  wanted  me  to  go  to  Pittsburg  and  look  up 
Miss  Dye  at  her  address,  509  Holland  Avenue,  out 
in  the  suburbs.  I  shadowed  the  house  long  enough 
to  find  out  that  Meyers  and  Miss  Dye  were  living 
together  at  the  address  given,  and  then  wrote  J.  J. 
from  Pittsburg  to  this  effect.  His  instructions  had 
been  to  stay  only  a  few  days,  so  when  I  had  written 
him  I  went  back  to  Cincinnati. 

"I  saw  J.  J.  the  following  Sunday  in  Cincinnati, 
and  he  asked  me  how  much  money  I  had  left.  I 
told  him  only  $7,  and  he  said  he  would  give  Jim 
some  money  for  me.  When  I  saw  Jim  he  gave  me 
$3,  which  made  $10  and  my  expenses  for  this  work. 
While  I  was  in  Pittsburg  on  this  trip  I  stopped 
at  a  boarding  house  in  Williamsburg,  but  don't  re- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  245 

member  the  name.  Think  I  could  tell  the  house  if 
I  saw  it. 

"I  knocked  around  Cincinnati  without  any  regu- 
lar job  during  the  summer  and  fall.  I  think  it  was 
a  few  weeks  after  I  saw  the  accounts  of  the  Los  An- 
geles explosion  in  the  papers,  when  J.  J.  called  me 
up  one  day  on  the  long  distance  'phone  at  the  saloon 
on  the  corner  near  where  I  lived,  Fred  Haus'  saloon, 
at  Colerain  and  Lieber  Avenues.  He,  J.  J.,  called 
up  three  or  four  times  during  the  day  and  as  I  was 
away  each  time,  finally  left  word  with  either  Haus 
or  my  sister  that  I  should  come  to  Indianapolis.  I 
went  to  Indianapolis  that  night  on  a  late  train  about 
eleven  o'clock.  Got  to  Indianapolis  early  the  next 
morning  and  called  J.  J.  up  about  eleven  o'clock. 
He  told  me  to  come  to  the  office,  which  I  did.  He 
then  asked  me  if  I  wanted  to  make  a  trip  to  Nebras- 
ka for  him.  He  never  told  me  what  had  happened 
but  told  me  he  wanted  me  to  go  out  there  and  tell 
Jim  to  get  away  from  there.  He  said  he  didn't  think 
Jim  was  there  yet  and  that  I  would  probably  get 
there  about  a  day  later  than  Jim.  He  told  me  to 
tell  Jim  to  go  to  work  somewhere;  that  it  didn't 
make  a  damn  bit  of  difference  how  much  he  got  for 
the  work.  He  gave  me  $75  in  cash  for  the  trip. 
I  went  with  him  to  a  bank  near  his  office  where  he 
got  the  money,  which  he  handed  me  in  the  bank. 

"I  took  the  Monon  from  Indianapolis  to  Chicago, 
the  Northwestern  to  Omaha,  changed  trains  there, 
and  bought  a  ticket  for  O'Neil,  Neb.     Had  to  stay 


246  THE   MASKED   WAR 

at  O'Neil  that  night  and  stopped  at  a  little  place 
near  the  station  where  I  registered  under  my  right 
name,  I  think  from  Omaha.  I  went  to  a  livery 
stable  that  night  and  tried  to  get  a  team  but  had 
to  wait  until  the  next  morning  for  one.  The  next 
morning,  about  6 130  or  7  o'clock,  a  man  drove  me 
to  Chambers,  about  22  miles;  and  from  there  I  had 
to  hire  another  team  to  take  me  down  to  Ballagh, 
about  14  miles  more.  I  arrived  there  around  4  or 
5  o'clock  that  afternoon.  Jim  and  Jim's  mother 
and  his  brother-in-law  and  his  sister,  Alice,  were 
there.  The  family  saw  the  rig  coming  and  came 
out  to  meet  me.  Jim  did  not  come  out.  I  found 
him  sitting  on  a  bed  in  the  house,  cleaning  a  shotgun. 
He  was  surprised  to  see  me  and  said  he  thought  it 
was  Joe.  We  took  a  walk  outside  and  he  asked 
me  what  was  the  matter.  He  said,  'I  guess  Joe  sent 
you  out,'  and  asked  me  if  he  was  coming.  I  told 
him  no,  and  told  him  that  Joe  wanted  him  to  leave 
there  as  soon  as  possible  and  go  to  Sioux  City,  Iowa, 
or  any  other  little  town  and  go  to  work;  that  J.  J. 
said  to  suit  himself  about  where  he  wanted  to  go 
and  that  he  didn't  have  to  worry  about  the  money 
as  J.  J.  would  send  some  to  him  when  he  needed  it. 
He  looked  kind  of  down-hearted  and  said  to  his 
mother,  'I'm  in  trouble,  Mum.'  She  asked  him  what 
the  matter  was  and  he  replied,  'Oh,  just  a  little 
trouble;  I  have  got  to  leave  to-morrow.'  His 
mother  seemed  to  be  worried  about  it,  and  when 
she  got  me  away  from  the  others  asked  me  quietly 


THE    MASKED    WAR  247 

what  the  trouble  was.  I  told  her  I  didn't  know,  but 
that  J.  J.  had  sent  me  out.  I  stayed  there  that  night. 
We,  J.  B.  and  I,  got  up  early  the  next  morning, 
about  4  o'clock,  and  Howard  Knabb  hitched  up  and 
drove  us  to  O'Neil,  about  40  miles.  We  got  there 
about  half  past  two  in  the  afternoon,  and  had  lunch 
at  a  restaurant  there.  Got  a  train  from  there  at 
about  4  o'clock  for  Omaha,  and  from  there  came  on 
back  to  Chicago,  where  we  checked  our  suitcases 
at  the  depot  and  waited  until  nighttime  to  get  a 
train  for  Indianapolis. 

"When  we  left  Ballagh,  J.  B.  was  wearing  a 
brown  slouch  felt  hat,  a  brown  suit  that  looked  new 
but  was  badly  wrinkled  and  hadn't  been  pressed, 
and,  I  think,  black  shoes.  He  told  me  that  he  had 
bought  this  suit  on  a  jump  and  asked  me  how  I  liked 
it.  After  we  got  on  the  train  he  put  on  a  pair  of 
spectacles  and  wore  them  all  the  way  back  to  In- 
dianapolis. I  had  never  seen  him  wear  glasses 
before, 

"We  reached  Indianapolis  the  next  morning.  I 
called  up  J.  J.  at  his  office  and  told  him  I  was  back 
and  that  J.  B.  came  back  with  me.  Then  while 
J.  B.  waited  at  the  depot,  I  went  up  to  J.  J.'s  office. 
I  told  him  where  J.  B.  was  and  how  he  was  dressed 
— he  asked  me  about  that.  J.  J.  told  me  to  have 
J.  B.  meet  him  on  the  corner  of  some  street,  up 
near  the  Court  House  and  Washington  and  that  he, 
J.  J.,  would  drive  by  there  with  a  horse  and  buggy 
and  take  J.  B.  for  a  drive.     J.  J.  got  the  rig  at 


248  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Wood's  Livery  Stable  and  met  J.  B.  at  the  place 
designated.  They  said  they  were  going  for  a  drive 
out  in  the  country  and  expected  to  be  back  about  1 1 
o'clock  that  morning.  I  was  to  call  him  up  when 
they  got  back,  but  I  called  up  about  1 1  o'clock  and 
as  they  were  not  there  I  took  the  train  for  Cincin- 
nati about  12  o'clock.  I  had  already  been  given 
$17  (the  amount  I  had  left  after  taking  out  my 
expenses)  which  J.  J.  told  me  I  could  keep  for  my 
trouble. 

"While  we  were  at  Ballagh,  J.  B.  told  me  that 
he  had  come  back  from  the  west  to  Chicago  and 
then  had  gone  from  Chicago  out  to  Ballagh.  He 
did  not  tell  me  anything  he  had  done,  but  from 
everything  I  knew,  I  was  under  the  impression  that 
he  was  keeping  under  cover  on  account  of  the  Los 
Angeles  matter.  That  was  one  reason  why  I  left 
Indianapolis  and  got  back  to  Cincinnati  as  soon  as 
I  could. 

"Some  time  after  my  trip  out  West,  I  wrote  a 
letter  to  J.  J.  asking  him  to  loan  me  $20  and  re- 
ceived a  reply  stating  that  he  didn't  have  it.  Sub- 
sequent to  this,  Bob  McNamara  called  at  my  house 
and  said  that  Jim  was  in  town  again  and  wanted 
me  to  meet  him  at  5th  Street  and  Central  Avenue, 
Cincinnati.  I  was  kind  of  'leary'  about  it  as  I  didn't 
know  what  he  wanted;  but  I  went  down  and  met  him 
and  we  had  supper  together.  He  asked  me  if  I 
had  ever  asked  J.  J.  for  work  and  I  told  him  no, 
but  that  I  had  asked  him  to  lend  me  $20.     He  said 


THE    MASKED   WAR  249 

that  J.  J.  had  told  him  about  that,  and  that  J.  J. 
didn't  have  the  money  or  he  would  have  given  it 
to  me.  J.  B.  asked  me  if  I  had  any  money  and  he 
gave  me  $5.  Then  he  asked  me  to  pay  for  the 
supper,  which  I  did.  He  came  back  to  Cummins- 
ville  with  me  and  went  to  his  own  home  and  I  went 
to  mine.  J.  B.  only  stayed  a  few  days  and  then 
left  but  didn't  say  where  he  was  going. 

"About  three  weeks  after  that  I  wrote  again  to 
J.  J.  and  asked  him  to  lend  me  $25.  He  wrote  me 
a  letter,  refusing  again. 

"Just  before  his  arrest,  I  wrote  to  J.  J.  again 
and  said  that  if  he  didn't  send  me  the  money  that  I 
asked  for  that  I  would  turn  over  to  the  other  side 
and  get  it  and  said  I  wanted  $50.  He  sent  me 
a  telegram  (Postal)  signing  his  own  name,  I  think, 
which  read:  'I  am  sending  you  a  letter  in  to-day's 
mail.'  This  was  addressed  to  me  at  my  house.  On 
the  following  Thursday,  I  got  a  letter  with  a  money 
order  for  $50  in  it.  The  letter  said,  'I  am  lend- 
ing you  $50  and  will  talk  matters  over  with  you 
when  I  see  you  again  in  Cincinnati.'  The  Saturday 
night  after  that,  he  was  arrested. 

"After  his  arrest,  about  four  weeks  later,  I  think, 
I  wrote  to  Hockin  and  asked  for  $125.  He  never 
answered  my  letter  and  I  didn't  hear  anything  from 
him  until  Bob  McNamara  came  to  me  and  said 
Hockin  told  him  I  wanted  $125  and  asked  him 
what  I  wanted  it  for.  I  told  Bob  that  I  had  it  com- 
ing to  me — that  they  owed  it  to  me   (which  they 


250  THE    MASKED    WAR 

didn't).  And  Bob  said  the  lawyers  up  there  said 
that  they  could  do  what  they  wanted  to  me  on  a 
charge  of  blackmail;  and  that  Hockin  had  said  if 
I  was  starving  to  death  he  would  give  me  a  few 
dollars  out  of  his  own  pocket.  I  told  Bob  to  tell 
Hockin  that  I  wasn't  starving  to  death. 

"Then,  after  that,  I  wrote  Mr.  Burns  anony- 
mously, telling  him  to  reply  to  George  Williams, 
General  Delivery,  but  I  never  went  to  the  General 
Delivery  to  ask  for  a  letter. 

"I  neglected  to  state  that  previous  to  asking  for 
the  $125,  Bob  McNamara  came  to  me  and  said  that 
two  lawyers  wanted  to  see  me  down  town.  I  went 
down  with  Bob — he  told  me  not  to  let  anybody  know 
about  it — and  he  introduced  me  to  Keegan  and  Har- 
rington at  the  Hotel  Haviland.  They  got  my  state- 
ment and  asked  me  whether  I  had  ever  seen  Mc- 
Namara with  any  dynamite,  whether  I  ever  carried 
any  for  him  or  saw  him  making  any  bombs  and 
whether  I  had  any  letters  from  him.  I  told  them 
'no'  to  every  question,  but  every  statement  I  made 
to  them  was  false.  I  signed  the  statement  but  did 
not  swear  to  it. 

"Right  after  I  made  this  statement,  Detectives 
Shafer,  Ball  and  McDevitt  of  the  Cincinnati  Police 
Department  called  at  my  house.  I  told  them  I 
didn't  know  anything.  I  lied  to  them  for  the  pur- 
pose of  shielding  McNamara  and  also  omitted  to 
tell  them  anything  about  the  statement  to  Har- 
rington. 


THE    MASKED    WAR  251 

"Then  Detective  Shafer  and  Charles  F.  Trotter 
of  the  Burns  Agency  called  on  me  and  took  me  down 
to  headquarters,  where  they  asked  me  about  my 
employers.  I  voluntarily  made  a  statement  to  them 
of  my  own  free  will,  without  any  urging  on  the  part 
of  the  police  officials.  I  told  them  the  whole  story 
from  beginning  to  end,  and  they  asked  me  to  come 
to  Indianapolis  and  I  volunteered  to  accompany 
them. 

"Shortly  after  his  trip  to  Rochester,  J.  B.  Mc- 
Namara  sent  me  to  Cincinnati  to  purchase  ^2 
dozen  dry  cell  batteries  No.  5.  I  purchased  these 
at  some  electrical  supply  store  on  4th  Street  near 
Plum,  and  I  think  they  had  red  wrappings.  Some 
young  man  waited  on  me.  They  cost  15  or  25  or 
30  cents  apiece. 

"At  different  times  I  also  bought  for  him  about 
Yz  dozen  gallon  cans  like  painters  have.  I  bought 
them  at  Ira  D.  Washburn's  place  on  Central  Ave- 
nue near  Court  Street,  Cincinnati.  He  always 
wanted  corks  with  them.  He  didn't  tell  me  what 
he  wanted  them  for. 

"Just  before  the  Cincinnati  explosion,  I  was  at 
the  home  of  J.  B.  one  day  and  he  took  me  up  on 
the  hill  near  his  home  and  said  he  had  some  nitro- 
glycerin hidden  there  and  wanted  to  look  at  it.  He 
found  three  quart  bottles  filled  with  nitroglycerin 
hidden  alongside  of  a  log.  He  smelled  of  it  and 
said  it  wasn't  very  strong  and  then  poured  it  out 
on  the  ground  and  broke  the  bottles.     He  thought 


252  THE    MASKED    WAR 

there  were  four  quarts  there  but  he  could  only  find 
three. 

"J.  B.  always  told  me  in  a  joking  way  that  he 
wanted  the  batteries  for  the  door  bells  up  at  the 
house.  In  speaking  of  nitroglycerin,  J.  B.  referred 
to  it  at  least  once  as  'soup.'  He  said  that  was  what 
the  cracksmen  called  it. 

"Just  after  the  explosion  in  October  and  before 
I  went  to  Ballagh,  J.  J.  gave  me  four  clocks  one 
night  in  Cincinnati  and  told  me  to  keep  them  for 
him.  They  were  small  repeating  alarm  clocks  with 
the  name  'Junior  Tattoo'  on  the  front  of  them  and 
were  made  by  the  New  Haven  Clock  Company. 
J.  J.  said  that  he  wanted  these  clocks  again,  but  I 
was  broke,  and  with  a  young  man  named  McEvoy, 
who  lives  on  Whittier  Street,  we  sold  the  four  clocks 
to  the  following  parties : 

I  to  Robert  Eckel,  locksmith,  at  4464  ( ?) 
Hamilton  Avenue,  near  Chase,   for  60c. 

1  to  a  saloon  keeper  at  the  Keller  House, 
Colerain  and  Hoffman  Streets,  for  50c. 

2  at  Elmore  and  Spring  Grove  Avenues;  one 
to  a  saloon  keeper  and  one  to  a  man  in  the 
place;  got  about  $1  for  these  two. 

"At  the  same  time  that  J.  J.  McNamara  gave  me 
the  clocks  he  also  gave  me  a  couple  of  handkerchiefs 
and  several  pairs  of  cuffs  and  told  me  to  burn  them 
up,  which  I  did.     He  also  gave  me  a  piece  of  fuse 


THE    MASKED    WAR  253 

with  powder  in  it,  about  half  a  roll,  which  I  cut  in 
pieces  and  burned. 

"(Signed)  Frank  Eckhoff. 
"Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day 
of  November,  191 1. 

"William  S.  Garber,  Notary  Public." 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

DEATH   THREATS   TO   WITNESSES 

From  the  time  of  the  arrests  of  the  McNamaras 
and  McManigal  until  December  ist,  191 1,  when 
the  two  brothers  confessed  their  guilt  in  court  in 
Los  Angeles,  my  agency  never  for  a  second  relaxed 
its  efforts  to  make  good  their  case  and  also  get  in 
readiness  the  material  that  would  aid  the  United 
States  Government  in  prosecuting  the  labor  men 
who  had  joined  in  the  dynamite  conspiracy. 

Every  possible  effort  to  beat  us  out  was  made  by 
the  agents  for  the  defense.  Threats  of  murder 
were  openly  made  to  witnesses,  evidence  was  manu- 
factured or  destroyed,  plans  were  laid  to  kill  me, 
as  I  have  told  before,  my  offices  were  broken  into 
and  searched,  bribes  were  offered  my  men  and  the 
veniremen  drawn  for  the  jury.  One  man,  employed 
by  counsel  for  the  defense,  was  caught  red-handed 
bribing  a  juror  the  day  before  the  McNamaras 
pleaded  guilty.  Detective  Biddinger,  traveling 
from  Chicago  to  Los  Angeles  with  important  docu- 
mentary evidence,  was  offered  a  large  sum  of  money 
if  he  would  permit  himself  to  be  hit  over  the  head 
and  the  evidence  taken   from  him. 

254 


THE    MASKED    WAR  255 

All  the  while  there  was  one  long  and  bitter  roar 
against  me.  I  was  accused  of  planting  the  dyna- 
mite, General  Otis  was  accused  of  engaging  in  a 
frame-up  and  mass  meetings  were  held  all  over  the 
country  where  money  was  raised  for  the  defense 
and  where  the  flame  of  hate  against  Capital  was 
fanned. 

As  early  as  June,  191 1,  we  learned  that  Tveit- 
moe,  the  "Old  Man"  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  was 
planning  to  get  a  spy  from  the  defense  within  our 
own  ranks.  We  provided  him  with  one,  Investiga- 
tor E.  W.  McK.  On  the  9th  of  June  a  representa- 
tive of  Tveitmoe  approached  our  man.  He  ex- 
plained that  the  "Old  Man"  was  very  anxious  to  be 
put  wise  to  the  inside  methods  of  Burns.  He  also 
wanted  to  get  information  as  to  how  I  had  success- 
fully landed  the  guilty  men  in  the  land  fraud  cases 
in  Oregon.  He  said  that  Tveitmoe  was  out  of  the 
city  but  that  he  (our  man)  would  hear  from  him 
on  his  return.  Tveitmoe's  agent  gave  our  man  the 
information  that  efforts  were  being  made  to  have 
a  general  strike  of  all  the  unions  in  the  country  so 
that  on  the  day  the  trial  started  not  a  wheel  would 
turn  or  a  hammer  be  heard  in  the  whole  land. 

My  operative  took  in  everything  that  was  said 
to  him.  Tveitmoe's  man  explained  that  gas  had 
caused  the  Times  explosion  and  that  the  defense 
would  prove  it.  The  defense  would  prove  that  the 
men  employed  on  the  paper  had  been  complaining 
of  escaping  gas  for  two  weeks  and  that  the  very 


256  THE    MASKED    WAR 

families  that  had  been  bereft  of  their  wage-earners 
would  swear  to  this.  The  widows  and  children  of 
the  murdered  men  would  testify,  he  said,  that  the 
men  who  were  killed  had  complained  of  the  escap- 
ing gas.  He  said  also  that  there  were  union  men 
employed  by  the  Times  and  that  they  would  aid  in 
the  defense  by  giving  testimony  to  prove  that  gas 
had  caused  the  destruction  of  the  plant  and  the 
loss  of  twenty-one  lives. 

But  the  first  and  most  desperate  move,  declared 
the  informant  who  thought  that  he  was  getting  next 
to  one  of  my  men  to  betray  our  plans,  was  to  bring 
a  halt  to  all  industry  and  thus  frighten  the  jury  and 
the  judge  and  all  concerned.  Money  was  pouring 
in  for  the  defense  and  Darrow  and  his  aides  had 
all  that  they  could  ask  for. 

Besides  threatening  to  murder  our  witnesses  if 
they  persisted  in  telling  the  truth,  the  agents  for  the 
accused  men  hired  two  assassins  and  paid  them  in 
advance  to  kill  District  Attorney  Fredericks  and 
General  Otis,  the  owner  of  the  Times,  if  a  verdict 
was  brought  in  against  the  McNamaras.  The  plan 
or  idea  was,  perhaps,  that  this  double  killing  would 
frighten  the  successor  to  the  district  attorney  and 
that  a  half-hearted  fight  would  be  made  against  an 
appeal. 

The  man  who  gave  us  the  information  about  the 
hiring  of  the  gunmen  was  John  Love,  a  prosperous 
business  man,  mine  owner  and  courageous  citizen 
of  Denver.     Mr.  Love  said  that  while  on  a  trip  to 


THE    MASKED    WAR  257 

Colorado  Springs,  October  16th,  he  sat  behind  two 
men  in  a  coach.  From  their  conversation  he  made 
out  that  they  had  met  in  Denver  and  were  on  their 
way  to  attend  the  McNamara  trial  in  Los  Angeles. 
They  had  a  bottle  of  whiskey,  which  they  used  fre- 
quently and  their  voices  rose  in  conversation.  One 
of  them  had  come  over  the  Rock  Island  and  the 
other  over  the  Burlington  to  Denver.  He  could 
not  help  but  hear  all  of  their  talk.  When  one  of 
the  men  turned  he  saw  a  button  of  the  Workmen 
of  the  World  on  his  lapel. 

One  of  the  men  told  the  other  that  he  had  been 
given  $1,000  while  the  other  said  he  had  been 
given  $500.  For  this  money  they  were  to  kill 
Fredericks  and  Otis  if  the  case  went  against  the 
McNamaras.  An  old  Englishwoman  on  her  way  to 
the  Coast  was  sitting  opposite  Mr.  Love.  She  heard 
the  talk  of  the  two  gunmen  and  leaned  over  to  Mr. 
Love  and  asked  him  if  he  thought  that  the  men 
would  murder  two  people  in  cold  blood  for  money. 

Mr.  Love  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  avoid  any 
notoriety  but  his  sense  of  duty  was  such  that  he 
gave  the  information.  He  described  both  men  to 
our  operatives.  The  man  who  got  the  $1,000  wore 
his  hair  long,  his  neck  was  unshaven  and  his  brow 
was  receding.  The  other  man  pulled  out  his 
wallet  to  prove  that  he  had  received  his  five  hundred 
dollars  and  counted  it  on  his  knee.  Mr.  Love  saw 
this  done  and  saw  that  some  of  the  bills  were  fifty 
dollar  certificates. 


258  THE    MASKED    WAR 

This  will  sound  as  pretty  desperate  business  and 
some  people  who  are  comfortably  remote  from  the 
underworld  may  even  question  it  or  say  it  is  too 
much  like  a  dime  novel.  But  we  had  every  reason 
to  believe  that  assassins  were  easily  hired  in  this 
case. 

Desperadoes  do  not  belong  to  any  one  section  of 
the  country  or  to  any  one  period  of  time.  These 
two  gunmen  were  of  the  same  stamp  as  J.  J.,  who 
was  a  product  of  existence  to-day.  It  is  easy  to  be- 
lieve that  J.  J.  would  have  stopped  at  nothing  after 
his  endeavor  to  have  Miss  Dye,  his  cast-off  sweet- 
heart, killed  with  dynamite.  We  learned  from  Mc- 
Manigal  in  Los  Angeles  jail  that  he  was  even  more 
desperate  as  an  outlaw  than  his  known  crimes  gave 
him  discredit  for  being.  McManigal  informed  us 
that  McNamara  had  become  so  bold  with  his  power 
of  ambush  that  he  was  planning  to  become  a  high- 
way robber  on  a  great  scale  so  that  he  could  supply 
himself  with  more  money  for  keeping  up  his  fight. 

"It's  a  good  thing  you've  got  J.  J.  in  here,"  said 
McManigal  to  Operative  McLaren,  soon  after  they 
were  locked  up,  "for  he  told  me  that  he  was  keeping 
tabs  on  an  Indianapolis  bank  messenger  who  car- 
ried large  sums  of  money  daily.  He  was  planning 
to  hold  him  up  and  had  already  picked  out  a  man 
to  assist  him.  He  also  planned  to  hold  up  the  box 
office  on  the  day  of  the  big  automobile  races.  He 
figured  that  there  would  be  close  to  $100,000  in 
cash  in  the  box  office.     He  had  planned  to  have  J. 


THE    MASKED   WAR  259 

B.  assist  him  in  this  hold-up.     He  said,  'We  need 
the  money.'  " 

And  now  we  come  to  one  of  the  most  brazen  of 
the  attempts  to  save  the  McNamaras  by  intimidat- 
ing my  witnesses.  That  business  was  meant  when  a 
murder  threat  was  passed  this  particular  witness  I 
had  every  reason  to  believe.  The  witness  was  a 
very  important  one  and  so  I  handled  this  detail  my- 
self in  person. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

EFFORTS   TO   BUY   OFF   WITNESSES 

In  the  first  half  of  August  prior  to  the  trial  of 
the  McNamaras  I  was  engaged  in  going  over  with 
District  Attorney  Fredericks  the  matters  under  in- 
vestigation as  I  received  the  reports  of  my  mana- 
gers and  operatives.  There  were  many  important 
things  to  watch  and  always  the  crooked  work  that 
was  going  on  in  behalf  of  the  prisoners.  We  had 
many  special  investigations  in  progress  besides  the 
regular  work  of  my  force  and  one  of  these  inves- 
tigations took  me  away  from  Los  Angeles  to  San 
Francisco.  In  the  latter  city  I  learned  that  Tveit- 
rape  and  his  associates  were  so  violent  in  their  de- 
nunciations of  me  that  a  most  vicious  feeling 
obtained  against  me.  I  was  advised  to  be  extremely 
careful  and  to  take  every  means  to  protect  myself 
from  attack.  I  took  what  precautions  I  considered 
sensible  and  when  my  operative  reported  to  me  the 
sinister  statement  of  a  certain  distinguished  member 
of  the  California  bar  that  the  only  thing  that  could 
save  the  McNamaras  was  my  withdrawal  from  the 
case  I  returned  that  gentleman  my  compliments  with 
the  information  that  he  would  be  killed  immediately 

260 


THE    MASKED    WAR  261 

the  news  was  given  out  that  I  had  been  assas- 
sinated. This  brought  immediate  relief.  Then  I 
went  to  the  office  of  Fremont  Older,  editor  of  the 
San  Francisco  Evening  Bulletin.  This  paper  had 
done  a  great  deal  to  create  hate  against  me  person- 
ally. I  talked  with  Mr.  Older  about  that  and  all 
I  could  get  from  him  was  that  he  was  taking  the 
side  of  the  "under  dog."  I  made  a  special,  confi- 
dential report  to  District  Attorney  Fredericks  which 
might  have  become  matters  of  court  record  had  I 
been  killed  during  the  trial. 

After  a  week-end  at  the  ranch  of  Mr.  Rudolph 
Spreckles,  in  Sonoma  County,  I  returned  to  San 
Francisco  and  was  informed  that  our  witness,  G.  H. 
Phillips,  of  Oakland,  who  would  positively  identify 
J.  B.  McNamara  as  "Bryce,"  the  man  who  pur- 
chased the  dynamite  for  the  Times  explosion,  had 
been  approached  and  that  his  life  had  been  threat- 
ened. It  was  night  when  I  got  this  information,  but 
I  hurried  to  Oakland  and  the  home  of  Mr.  Phillips. 
I  was  unable  to  get  any  answer  at  the  door,  and 
thinking  that  the  family  might  be  away  paying  social 
calls,  I  kept  the  place  under  surveillance.  We 
watched  until  12:30,  when  it  was  evident  that  the 
family  was  within  but  was  afraid  to  answer  any 
summons  at  the  door.  I  remained  in  Oakland  the 
rest  of  the  night  and  resumed  my  personal  investi- 
gation the  next  morning,  August  24th. 

At  9  a.  m.  I  again  called  at  Mr.  Phillips'  resi- 
dence and  found  Mrs.  Phillips,  who  informed  me 


262  THE    MASKED   WAR 

that  her  husband  was  being  threatened  by  the  de- 
fense; that  he  was  at  the  Giant  Powder  Works  and 
only  came  home  on  Saturday  nights.  She  stated  that 
while  she  felt  a  little  nervous  over  the  matter,  she 
was  proud  of  the  stand  her  husband  was  taking, 
viz.,  that  he  would  not  permit  anybody  to  frighten 
him  out  of  doing  what  he  considered  his  duty  as  a 
good  citizen.  I  then  left,  secured  an  automobile, 
and  went  to  the  Giant  Powder  Works  where  I  met 
Mr.  Phillips.  He  stated  that  he  proposed  to  stand 
pat  and  no  amount  of  threats  would  frighten  him 
out  of  doing  his  duty,  but  admitted  that  he  felt  a 
little  nervous  over  the  situation;  he  said,  however, 
that  he  would  be  firm  in  his  stand  to  do  what  was 
right. 

He  further  stated  that  about  a  month  ago  two 
men  called  on  a  Mrs.  Hyde,  a  friend  of  Mrs. 
Phillips,  who  lives  on  Myrtle  Street,  between  12th 
and  14th,  Oakland.  They  asked  her  in  regard  to 
Mr.  Phillips  and  wanted  to  know  what  kind  of  a 
man  he  was;  whether  he  did  not  have  a  deaf  and 
dumb  child;  whether  she  had  ever  heard  Phillips 
discuss  the  McNamara  case  with  Mr.  Hyde.  They 
stated  they  were  detectives  and  represented  the  de- 
fense. Mr.  Phillips  further  stated  that  on  Wednes- 
day, August  9th,  a  friend  of  his  called  on  him  (Mr. 
Phillips)  and  said  he  would  like  to  talk  to  him 
in  confidence.  At  this  point  I  desire  to  state  that 
Mr.  Phillips  declined  to  furnish  the  name  or  ad- 
dress of  this  person,  but  in  discussing  the  details  of 


THE    MASKED    WAR  263 

the  case  he  inadvertently  mentioned  the  name  of 
"Patsy"  and  also  inadvertently  disclosed  that  he 
was  at  the  Mare  Island  Navy  Yard.  When  his 
attention  was  called  to  this  and  he  was  shown  how 
easily  Patsy  could  be  located,  he  gave  me  the  name 
of  Patrick  Gilmore.  He  stated  that  Patsy  (as  he 
called  him)  called  upon  him  and  stated  that  he  had 
been  approached  by  a  couple  of  parties  who  re- 
quested him  to  go  and  see  him  (Phillips)  and  get 
him  to  change  his  testimony,  or  rather,  his  identifi- 
cation of  James  B.  McNamara  by  saying  that  the 
man  he  saw  he  remembered  distinctly  had  a  scar 
on  his  neck,  or  something  of  that  sort;  and  told 
him  that  he  could  name  his  own  price.  Phillips 
declined  to  do  as  they  requested  and  said  he  would 
have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  them. 

Patsy  also  informed  Mr.  Phillips  that  a  Mr. 
Hitchcock  called,  and  that  later  a  man  and  woman, 
whom  Patsy  did  not  know,  called  at  the  Mare 
Island  Navy  Yard  and  wanted  to  see  him  concern- 
ing this  same  matter.  Mr.  Phillips  stated  that  this 
detective  who  called  on  Patsy  had  also  called  on 
Mr.  William  Flynn,  the  packing  foreman  at  the 
Giant  Powder  Works,  while  Flynn  was  at  the  Win- 
chester Hotel  in  San  Francisco.  On  Saturday,  Au- 
gust 19th,  Mr.  Finkleday,  of  the  Giant  Powder 
Company,  called  Mr.  Phillips  to  the  'phone  and 
told  him  the  San  Francisco  office  of  the  Giant 
Powder  Company  was  on  the  'phone.  Mr.  Phillips 
went  to  the  'phone  and  found  the  party  at  the  other 


264  THE    MASKED    WAR 

end  was  Michael  Gilmore,  a  clerk  in  the  office  of 
the  Giant  Powder  Company.  Gilmore  said,  "I  want 
to  come  over  and  see  you  to-night,"  meaning  to  his 
home  at  13 12  Market  Street,  Oakland. 

Gilmore  called  that  night  and  said,  "I  came  to 
warn  you  that  a  man  named  Kelly  called  on  me  witK 
a  letter  from  a  priest  who  is  an  old  friend  of  mine, 
and  Kelly  stated  he  was  a  relative  of  the  McNa- 
maras  and  wanted  him  (Phillips)  to  meet  Gilmore; 
he  asked  if  Gilmore  could  come  over  and  see  him 
(Phillips)  ;  Kelly  asked  him  to  change  his  testimony 
as  to  the  identification  of  McNamara  and  to  say 
that  the  man  he  saw  at  the  Powder  Works  had  a 
finger  off.  Phillips  asked  Gilmore  who  this  man 
was  and  Gilmore  replied  that  he  had  asked  Kelly 
what  his  business  was  and  Kelly  stated  he  was  a 
mining  man  and  banker.  He  also  asked  Kelly  if  he 
had  sent  anyone  else  to  see  Phillips  and  he  said  yes, 
that  he  had  sent  word  to  Phillips  through  William 
Flynn.  Gilmore  informed  Phillips  that  Kelly  stated 
this  was  the  last  time  he  would  send  for  him  and 
that  if  Phillips  went  to  Los  Angeles  and  testified  he 
(Phillips)  would  suffer  an  awful  death. 

Gilmore  said  he  was  to  meet  this  fellow  at  Solari's 
restaurant  that  night  and  take  dinner  with  him.  He 
also  told  Gilmore  to  tell  Phillips  he  could  name  his 
own  price.  Phillips  told  Gilmore  to  tell  those  men 
to  go  plumb  to  hell,  that  no  amount  of  money  would 
purchase  his  testimony  and  that  he  could  not  be 
frightened.      Phillips   also   stated  that  there   were 


THE    MASKED    WAR  265 

two  men  who  had  called  at  a  saloon  up  near  the 
Powder  Works,  and  from  the  descriptions  I  am 
satisfied  who  they  were.  They  were  inquiring  about 
Mr.  Phillips  and  his  habits  and  associations. 

Mr.  Phillips  also  reminded  me  that  at  the  time 
I  called  upon  him  at  the  Powder  Works  in  October 
last  he  had  informed  me  that  he  heard  Schmitty 
call  one  of  the  men  (the  little  fellow)  Dave — 
meaning  Dave  Caplan — and  that  J.  B.  McNamara 
was  smooth-faced  at  that  time,  while  he  now  has 
a  mustache. 

Mr.  Phillips  then  introduced  me  to  William 
Flynn,  the  packing  foreman  at  the  Giant  Powder 
Works,  who  stated  that  on  July  23rd,  while  he  was 
at  the  Winchester  Hotel,  76  Third  Street,  San  Fran- 
cisco, about  6:30  or  7  p.  m.,  two  men  called  and 
gave  the  names  of  Sullivan  and  Harrington.  Sulli- 
van asked  Flynn  to  go  to  his  room,  and  on  reaching 
there  he  told  Flynn  that  they  were  friends  of  Mc- 
Namara and  asked  if  he  was  a  good  friend  of 
George  Phillips.  Also  asked  Flynn  if  he  knew  a 
man  named  Gilmore  who  worked  up  there.  Flynn 
told  him  Gilmore  formerly  worked  at  Giant,  Cal., 
but  that  he  was  now  at  the  Mare  Island  Navy  Yard. 
They  then  asked  him  if  he  ever  heard  Phillips  talk 
about  his  identification  of  McNamara;  he  replied 
that  he  had  not.  They  asked  a  number  of  questions 
about  Phillips  and  his  habits,  and  when  leaving  they 
said,  "Now,  if  you  can't  do  us  any  good  don't  do 
us   any   harm,"   and,   shaking  his   finger  at  Flynn, 


266  THE    MASKED    WAR 

asked  him  not  to  say  anything  about  their  visit. 
Harrington  informed  Flynn  he  was  from  Chicago 
and  Sullivan  said  he  was  from  Los  Angeles.  He 
described  them  as  follows: 

Harrington — Age  50,  height  about  5  feet  7^2 
inches,  weight  170  to  180,  short,  wears  glasses, 
glasses  in  two  pieces. 

Sullivan — 50  years,  5  feet  1 1  inches  or  6  feet, 
born  in  London,  Canada,  weight  about  200  pounds 
or  more,  smooth  face,  black  derby  hat,  dark  suit. 

Flynn  says  a  man  shadowed  him  around  San 
Francisco  for  two  days.  Flynn  remembered  that 
when  they  were  leaving  Sullivan  said,  "Remember, 
everything  said  to-night  dies  here;  if  not,  look  out." 
Harrington  said  to  Flynn,  "They  have  no  evidence 
against  the  McNamaras;  they  are  just  trying  to 
job  them."  They  wanted  to  know  from  Flynn  if 
Phillips  was  a  church  member,  and  if  he  did  not 
have  a  child,  and  then  tried  to  show  an  intimate 
knowledge  by  asking  if  he  did  not  have  a  deaf  and 
dumb  child,  a  girl.  He  said  that  he  had  been  at 
the  works  looking  for  Flynn  and  was  informed  he 
was  at  the  Winchester  Hotel  in  San  Francisco.  The 
man  giving  the  name  of  Harrington  showed  Flynn 
an  envelope  of  a  telegram  on  which  was  written  the 
name  Harrington. 

After  leaving  Phillips  I  returned  to  San  Fran- 
cisco and  immediately  called  at  the  office  of  the 
Giant  Powder  Company  in  the  Mills  Building  and 
found  Michael  Gilmore,  who  is  apparently  a  very 


THE    MASKED    WAR  267 

fine  young  fellow.  He  is  bright  and  intelligent  and 
has  been  connected  with  this  concern  for  a  number 
of  years;  occupies  a  very  responsible  clerical  posi- 
tion. 

At  first  Gilmore  declined  to  discuss  the  matter 
with  me  or  to  have  anything  to  say  about  it,  and  it 
took  the  very  hardest  kind  of  pounding  to  get  him 
to  discuss  the  matter  at  all,  as  he  stated  he  didn't 
want  to  be  drawn  into  it  or  connected  with  it  in 
any  way,  and  that  he  would  have  had  nothing  what- 
ever to  do  with  the  case  had  it  not  been  for  the 
fact  that  the  man  named  Kelly,  who  called  upon 
him,  had  threatened  the  life  of  Mr.  Phillips.  That 
was  his  only  reason  for  going  over  there.  This  I 
do  not  believe;  I  think  he  was  persuaded  to  go  over 
by  the  parties  who  called  on  him.  Finally,  Mr. 
Gilmore  admitted  that  on  Saturday,  the  19th  of 
August,  a  man  called  on  him  with  a  letter  from  a 
Catholic  priest  and  after  showing  him  the  letter 
stated  that  he  was  a  friend  of  the  McNamaras  and 
that  he  wanted  to  get  Mr.  Gilmore  to  see  Phillips 
and  urge  him  (Phillips)  to  change  his  identification 
of  J.  B.  McNamara  by  stating  that  the  man  he  saw 
at  the  Powder  Works  in  October  had  the  index  fin- 
ger missing  from  one  hand,  or  something  of  that 
sort;  that  Phillips  could  name  his  own  price  and 
that  Kelly  would  give  the  money  to  Gilmore  to  pay 
it  to  Phillips.  His  exact  language  was  "Phillips 
can  name  his  own  price  and  the  money  will  be 
handed  him  by  you."     Kelly  further  stated  that  he 


268  THE    MASKED    WAR 

(Gilmore)  was  the  last  man  who  would  be  sent  to 
Phillips  and  that  if  he  did  not  comply  with  their 
request,  but  persisted  in  testifying  against  the  Mc- 
Namaras  at  Los  Angeles,  he  (Phillips)  would  not 
die  a  natural  death.  He  further  stated  that  the 
testimony  of  Phillips  would  hang  the  two  Mc- 
Namaras. 

After  considerable  persuasion  I  induced  Gilmore 
to  let  me  see  the  letter  written  by  the  priest,  which 
he  had  in  his  pocket,  and  it  read  as  follows: 

"My  dear  Michael: 

"I  wish  you  would  assist  this  man  in  the  informa- 
tion which  he  will  need.  Help  him  in  every  way  you 
can.  Mr.  L.  M.  Kelly  will  explain  when  he  sees 
you." 

After  another  long  wrangle  Gilmore  permitted 
me  to  see  the  name  signed  to  the  letter  and  I  com- 
municated this  to  Fredericks  in  person,  as  I  prom- 
ised Gilmore  I  would  not  put  it  in  the  report,  and 
it  is  only  because  of  that  promise  that  I  am  not 
putting  it  in  here.  I  felt  that  every  man  connected 
with  this  case — priest  or  no  priest — should  be  called 
before  the  Grand  Jury  and  made  to  tell  all  he  knew 
about  it. 

Gilmore  was  very  badly  scared  and  trembled  all 
during  our  conversation ;  he  was  very  much  agitated. 
He  then  informed  me  that  he  had  an  appointment 
with  this  same  man  to  take  dinner  with  him  that 


THE   MASKED   WAR  269 

night.  I  then  had  Gilmore  come  down  to  the  door 
of  the  Mills  Building,  where  I  had  two  of  our  men 
take  a  look  at  him  so  as  to  be  able  to  identify  him 
when  he  met  Kelly.  I  was  satisfied  from  the  descrip- 
tion given  by  Gilmore  that  L.  M.  Kelly  is  L.  M. 
Sullivan. 

I  then  sent  operatives  Reed  and  Spaulding  to 
cover  the  Hotel  Manx,  where  Gilmore  was  to  meet 
Kelly.  Gilmore,  as  agreed  upon,  went  to  the  Manx 
Hotel  at  5  :45  p.  m.  and  met  Larry  Sullivan  in  the 
lobby  of  the  hotel.  They  then  proceeded  to  the 
Heidelberg  Inn  at  Ellis  Street  near  Market,  enter- 
ing there  at  5:55  p.  m.  Sullivan  returned  to  his 
hotel  at  7:45  and  at  7:55  talked  with  the  telephone 
operator  and  did  some  telephoning,  then  went  up- 
stairs in  the  elevator. 

As  the  reader  will  recall  we  later  positively 
identified  "Kelly"  as  "Larry"  Sullivan  with  the  aid 
of  the  woman  detective. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 

HOW    EVIDENCE    WAS   DESTROYED 

In  these  days  of  constant  exposure  of  corruption 
it  was  a  highly  encouraging  and  satisfying  feeling 
we  experienced  when  I  had  finished  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  Phillips  incident  and  could  report  to 
District  Attorney  Fredericks  that  our  witness  was 
neither  to  be  bought  nor  to  be  frightened.  If  he 
was  to  meet  a  "horrible  death,"  as  he  was  told  he 
would  by  the  McNamara  agents,  he  would  not 
flicker  before  the  possibility  of  it  being  meted  out 
to  him.  His  splendid  wife  was  with  him  in  his 
stand  and  I  was  indeed  grateful  to  them  both  dur- 
ing these  trying  moments  of  intrigue,  trickery  and 
threatened  assassination  just  prior  to  the  trial. 

Mr.  Phillips  could  positively  identify  J.  B.  Mc- 
Namara as  "J.  B.  Bryce"  and  he  would  so  identify 
him  if  he  lived  to  reach  the  witness  stand. 

There  was  never  an  end  to  the  efforts  to  cheat 
justice  until  we  finally  cornered  the  defense  with  the 
bribery  of  a  juror  and  Clarence  Darrow  threw  up 
his  hands,  his  two  clients  pleading  guilty. 

In  Peoria,  111.,  our  investigators  sought  to  get 
the  hotel  register  with  the  signature  of  "McGraw" 

270 


THE    MASKED    WAR  271 

— McManigal — and  we  found  that  some  one  had 
reached  the  register  first  and  had  cut  out  the  pages 
which  we  wanted.  Our  men  did  not  give  up,  how- 
ever, for  in  this  Peoria  hotel  McManigal  had  left 
his  wallet  with  over  $400  under  his  pillow  and  an 
honest  woman  employee  had  found  it  and  had 
turned  it  into  the  proprietor.  The  woman  had  gone 
away  and  had  married,  but  we  traced  her  and 
showed  her  a  picture  of  McManigal  and  she  identi- 
fied it  as  a  picture  of  the  man  who  had  left  the 
money  in  his  room.  She  fixed  the  date  approxi- 
mately. By  her  we  could  prove  that  he  was  in  the 
hotel  at  the  time  he  said  he  was  and  we  had  the 
mutilated  register  to  offer  in  evidence. 

A  woman  witness  we  had  in  Indianapolis  in  the 
triple  explosion  and  fire  which  destroyed  construc- 
tion work,  stable  and  garage  of  the  contractor,  Von 
Spreckelsen,  in  1909,  was  approached  by  a  union 
printer  who  offered  to  run  away  with  her,  give  her 
a  deed  to  his  house  and  lot  in  Indianapolis  and 
provide  her  with  all  the  money  she  wanted  to  spend. 
We  had  an  operative  living  in  the  same  flat  with 
this  woman  and  he  managed  to  keep  her  steady  and 
she  did  not  succumb  to  the  bribes.  Moreover,  she 
became  interested  in  the  effort  to  bring  the  dyna- 
miters to  justice  and  did  some  excellent  detective 
work  for  us. 

The  defense  was  eminently  successful  with  Mrs. 
McManigal,  however,  and  she  sold  out  after  trim- 
ming us  and  trimming  her  husband. 


272  THE    MASKED    WAR 

After  going  over  to  the  defense,  Mrs.  McMani- 
gal  got  fifty  dollars  from  our  Chicago  office  to  take 
her  to  Los  Angeles  and  when  she  reached  Los  An- 
geles calmly  turned  us  down  and  worked  so  hard  to 
influence  her  husband  in  prison  to  go  back  on  his 
confession  that  at  times  we  were  fearful  that  she 
would  succeed. 

McManigal  was  half  crazy  to  see  his  wife  and 
to  hear  from  his  children.  She  had  tortured  him 
with  messages  of  her  illness  and  with  a  long  period 
in  which  she  did  not  write  him  a  line  to  let  him 
know  whether  she  and  the  children  were  with  food 
and  shelter.  McManigal  wrote  her  imploring  let- 
ters. He  knew  that  his  only  chance  to  save  himself 
was  in  making  good  with  evidence  for  the  State  and 
she  could  have  made  good  for  him  by  telling  the 
truth.  She  knew  J.  B.  McNamara  and  J.  J.  They 
had  both  been  to  her  house  in  Chicago.  She  knew 
J.  B.  both  as  "Bryce"  and  "Sullivan"  and  she  knew 
every  detail  of  the  business  her  husband  was  en- 
gaged in.  In  her  flat  J.  B.  had  made  up  a  number 
of  infernal  machines  with  batteries  and  clocks  and 
on  one  winter's  evening  she  had  seen  him  and  her 
husband  thaw  out  frozen  dynamite  on  the  radiator 
while  the  children  played  about  them! 

As  black  as  was  the  record  of  McManigal,  he 
was  turning  State's  evidence  as  much  for  the  sake 
of  his  wife  and  children,  whom  he  sincerely  loved, 
as  he  was  in  the  hope  of  saving  his  own  neck.  When 
he  learned  that  his  wife  had  gone  back  on  him  he 


THE    MASKED   WAR  273 

was  first  puzzled,  then  frightened  and  then  hor- 
rified. 

The  man  was  crazy  to  see  her  and  the  children 
and  when  she  arrived  in  Los  Angeles  we  took  steps 
to  bring  this  about.  On  June  27th,  191 1,  we  ar- 
ranged with  Assistant  District  Attorney  Ford  to 
have  Mrs.  McManigal  taken  before  the  Grand 
Jury  at  10:30  a.  m.  We  were  to  take  her  husband 
into  a  small  room  adjoining  the  grand  jury  room 
and  have  the  two  meet  there.  When  McManigal 
was  told  of  this  plan  he  cried,  "My  God,  yes,  take 
me  to  her  right  now.  Let  me  talk  with  her."  Oper- 
ative McLaren,  who  was  his  body  guard  in  prison, 
told  him  that  he  would  have  to  wait  until  the  ar- 
rangements were  completed.  McManigal  became 
hysterical  and  would  laugh  one  moment  and  cry 
the  next.  He  kept  crying,  "Oh,  my  darling  wife, 
you  will  not  go  back  on  me." 

"She  has  got  to  help  me,"  he  told  McLaren. 
"She  knows  all.  She  knew  that  Hockin  cheated  me 
out  of  $75  on  every  explosion  I  pulled  off  for  him 
until  he  owed  me  $450.  She  knew  every  time  I  went 
away  on  a  job  and  many  a  time  I  told  her  I  did  not 
know  whether  I  would  come  back  as  I  might  be 
killed  by  a  watchman  or  blown  up  with  my  own 
dynamite.  She  knows  everything  and  she  has  got 
to  help  me." 

As  we  were  soon  to  learn,  Mrs.  McManigal's 
task  was  to  whip  her  husband  around  for  the  de- 
fense and  she  kept  at  it  to  the  very  end.     She  was 


274  THE    MASKED    WAR 

aided  by  George  Behm,  McManigal's  uncle,  of 
whom  he  had  been  very  fond  as  a  boy  and  a  young 
man.  The  defense  had  secured  the  aid  of  these 
two. 

The  meeting  between  husband  and  wife  in  the 
room  adjoining  the  grand  jury  room  occurred  that 
day.  After  they  had  talked  for  a  while  McManigal 
called  in  Operative  McLaren  and  urged  his  wife  to 
talk  with  him  for  his  sake  and  for  her  own.  She 
turned  on  McManigal  with  a  curt,  "You  shut  up!" 
and  when  McLaren  tried  to  induce  her  to  aid  her 
husband  she  stuck  her  fingers  in  her  ears.  She 
doubled  her  fist  in  her  husband's  face  and  finally 
fell  in  a  faint.  She  was  unconscious  for  an  hour 
and  a  half  and  a  physician  was  summoned.  When 
she  came  to  she  asked  for  Darrow.  Darrow  and 
the  other  lawyers  for  the  defense  were  outside. 
McLaren  opened  the  door  and  told  Darrow  that 
Mrs.  McManigal  wanted  to  be  taken  home.  The 
lawyers  were  furious  and  Darrow  shouted,  "How 
long  are  you  going  to  keep  up  this  outrage?" 

"You  had  better  get  an  automobile  for  the  lady," 
was  McLaren's  reply. 

The  long  fainting  spell  did  not  seem  to  have 
any  lasting  ill  effect  on  Mrs.  McManigal.  Under 
the  direction  of  the  lawyers  for  the  defense  she 
began  her  campaign  to  take  her  husband  away  from 
the  prosecution.  One  would  think  that  ordinarily 
a  witness  would  be  safe  in  jail,  but  McManigal  was 
not.    He  was  reached  more  than  once  and  the  story 


THE    MASKED    WAR  275 

of  how  the  defense  worked  to  break  him  down  will 
make  a  series  of  chapters  perhaps  unequalled  in  any 
story  of  fact  concerning  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice in  this  or  any  other  country. 

A  less  alert  man  than  McLaren  would  have  seen 
his  charge  taken  from  him  and  McManigal  would 
have  turned  from  his  first  resolution  to  tell  the  truth 
and  the  whole  truth  and  our  chief  witness  would 
have  been  stolen  from  us. 

Mrs.  McManigal  managed  to  inform  herself,  or 
be  informed,  when  McLaren  left  the  prison  to  at- 
tend to  certain  work  that  required  his  attention.  Al- 
though orders  had  been  given  to  allow  the  prisoner 
to  see  no  one  without  McLaren  being  present  there 
were  certain  outside  political  influences  at  work  and 
Mrs.  McManigal  managed  to  get  into  her  husband's 
cell  with  him  alone  and  begin  her  task  of  winning 
him  away  from  us.  McLaren  heard  about  it  from 
an  informant  in  the  jail  and  hurried  there.  He 
found  Mrs.  McManigal  gay  and  cheerful  as  she 
left  her  husband's  cell  and  met  Attorney  Job  Harri- 
man  in  the  corridor.  She  had  made  a  good  start. 
McManigal  was  weakening.  McLaren  hurried 
into  the  cell  and  McManigal  told  him  that  they  had 
not  discussed  the  case.  McLaren  knew  that  he  was 
lying  and  finally  got  out  of  him  that  Mrs.  McMani- 
gal had  gotten  him  to  sign  a  request  asking  Darrow 
and  his  associates  to  call  to  see  him  as  his  attorneys. 

After  talking  with  Mr.  Harriman,  Mrs.  McMan- 
igal asked  to  see  her  husband  again  and  she  was 


276  THE   MASKED   WAR 

permitted  to  talk  with  him  in  the  visitors'  room  for 
ten  minutes.  Things  looked  very  bad.  McManigal 
had  weakened  terribly.  His  wife,  it  seemed,  had 
done  the  work  she  was  sent  to  do. 

We  had  to  start  all  over  with  McManigal  to 
convince  him  that  he  had  everything  to  lose  and 
nothing  to  gain  if  he  gave  in  to  the  urgings  of  the 
defense.  Now,  although  McManigal  was  tight  in 
the  hands  of  the  law,  a  prisoner  and  a  confessed 
dynamiter  and  the  most  important  witness  for  the 
State,  counsel  for  the  defense  managed  to  have  him 
reached  time  and  again  by  means  so  subtle  that  even 
J.  J.  McNamara,  himself  a  prisoner  in  a  distant 
part  of  the  jail,  managed  to  get  messages  to  him. 

We  were  compelled  to  double  our  own  guard  on 
McManigal  and  to  equip  a  dictagraph  in  his  cell 
unbeknown  to  him. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

MCMANIGAL  NEARLY    DRIVEN   CRAZY 

Mrs.  McManigal  proved  a  veritable  thorn  in  the 
side  of  the  prosecution.  We  had  her  constantly 
under  shadow  and  found  that  she  was  frequently 
being  coached  in  her  campaign  to  get  her  husband 
to  go  back  on  his  confession  and  aid  in  the  acquittal 
of  the  two  McNamaras. 

Despite  our  efforts  to  have  a  witness  present 
when  Mrs.  McManigal  talked  with  her  husband  in 
his  cell,  the  influence  of  her  attorneys  was  such  that 
she  was  given  all  the  leeway  possible  to  swing  her 
husband  the  way  they  wanted  him  swung.  The  dic- 
tagraph, however,  aided  us  and  with  it  and  the 
constant  questioning  of  McManigal  by  McLaren 
we  found  out  all  that  transpired  during  these  visits. 

The  prisoner's  wife  coaxed  and  urged.  She  told 
him  that  the  McNamara  attorneys  had  told  her  that 
if  he  would  call  them  in  as  his  counsel  they  would 
see  that  he  was  freed  and  that  he  got  a  good  job. 
They  could  even  give  him  an  appointment  in  the 
very  jail  where  he  was  incarcerated.  She  told  him 
that  the  lawyers  promised  to  provide  for  them  for 
life — for  the  whole  family — and  that  she  would  be 
given  several  thousand  dollars  in  cash  besides. 

277 


278  THE    MASKED    WAR 

The  offering  was  a  tempting  one,  especially  when 
the  children  were  included  and  Mrs.  McManigal 
assured  him  that  the  agreement  would  include  pro- 
vision for  them  as  long  as  they  lived.  McManigal, 
loving  his  wife  and  loving  his  children,  thought  seri- 
ously of  the  proposition  and  did,  as  I  have  related 
heretofore,  sign  a  request  for  the  calling  in  of  Dar- 
row  and  his  associates  as  his  counsel.  But  after  we 
had  convinced  him  that  this  was  not  the  thing  to  do 
and  he  had  recalled  the  request  he  was  never  again 
tempted  to  sign  another.  When  he  got  his  nerve, 
finally,  he  realized  that  he  was  in  a  most  precarious 
position,  that  his  confession  had  been  carefully 
checked  up  and  that  it  would  be  a  simple  matter  for 
the  defense  to  throw  the  whole  mass  of  crime  on 
his  shoulders  and  send  him  to  death. 

McLaren  found  his  prison  charge  very  much 
excited  after  one  of  these  visits  of  Mrs.  McManigal. 
It  was  then  that  he  was  realizing  that  he  might  be 
offered  as  the  human  sacrifice  to  save  the  Mc- 
Namaras. 

"Go  ahead,  Mac,"  advised  McLaren,  "and  tell 
me  all  about  it." 

McManigal  then  told  him  of  the  tempting  offers 
and  exclaimed:  "I'm  next  to  the  whole  business! 
I  told  her  that  they  did  not  want  to  get  me  free  and 
provide  for  me  and  my  family,  but  that  they  wanted 
to  hang  me.  I  told  her  that  they  would  do  it  if 
she  did  not  come  over  to  my  side  and  back  me  up 
in  my  stand." 


THE    MASKED    WAR  279 

McManigal  then  said  that  his  wife  had  told  him 
that  his  uncle,  George  Behm,  was  on  his  way  from 
Portage,  Wis.,  to  see  him.  We  knew  what  this 
meant.  McManigal  was  fond  of  this  uncle  and  the 
uncle  was  to  be  added  to  the  force  that  would  try 
to  win  McManigal  away  from  the  prosecution. 

There  were  many  days  of  genuine  agony  for  Mc- 
Manigal as  he  sat  in  his  cell,  his  heart  hungry  for 
the  sight  of  his  little  boy  and  girl  and  the  love  of 
his  wife,  who  was  drifting  farther  and  farther  away 
from  him  and  working  with  those  who  meant  him 
no  good.  He,  a  big,  strong  man,  who  had  thought 
nothing  of  putting  his  life  in  peril  time  and  again 
as  he  dodged  armed  watchmen  to  set  off  infernal 
machines,  would  sit  and  sob  like  a  child  at  times. 

"I  was  happy  with  my  wife  and  children  and  con- 
tented with  the  money  I  was  making  in  my  trade," 
he  told  McLaren  one  day.  "Then  the  two  Mc- 
Namaras  and  Hockin  got  hold  of  me  and  gradually 
forced  me  into  the  dynamiting  business.  I  could 
look  my  wife  and  children  in  the  face  after  a  day  of 
honest  work.  I  had  no  trouble  on  my  mind  until 
they  got  me  to  go  in  with  them  to  dynamite  the  non- 
union shops.  After  that  my  life  was  a  hell  on  earth. 
Now  my  wife  and  innocent  children  are  disgraced." 

He  was  moaning  and  sobbing  bitterly  as  he  talked 
with  my  operative.  He  said  that  once  he  had  done 
a  job  the  McNamaras  had  him  where  he  had  to 
take  orders. 

At  times  McManigal  would  rage  against  the  Mc- 


280  THE   MASKED   WAR 

Namara  brothers  as  the  cause  of  all  his  trouble.  He 
told  McLaren  that  he  would  be  satisfied  if  he  were 
given  a  club  and  turned  loose  on  the  two  of  them. 
With  his  heavy  frame  and  the  big  scar  on  his  fore- 
head, he  looked  as  if  he  could  carry  out  his  wish 
to  kill  the  two  of  them  and  end  the  whole  business 
in  that  way. 

The  confessed  dynamiter  was  constantly  tortured 
despite  the  care  we  took  to  hold  him  steady  and 
keep  his  mind  in  a  reasonable  state  of  calm.  His 
wife,  for  a  long  time  before  her  arrival  in  Los 
Angeles,  had  not  answered  his  letters  and  when  she 
had  answered  them  it  was  to  tell  him  that  she  was 
very  ill  and  that  the  children  of  neighbors  had 
jeered  at  his  little  boy  and  girl,  stories  that  worked 
him  into  a  frenzy.  From  the  very  first,  even  when 
she  calmly  collected  fifty  dollars  from  my  Chicago 
office  to  proceed  to  Los  Angeles,  she  was  working 
for  the  McNamaras  and  their  lawyers.  McManigal 
had  been  double-crossed  all  along  the  line  and  would 
have  been  sent  to  the  gallows  if  he  had  given  in  to 
the  pleadings  of  his  wife.  He  had  been  robbed  of 
a  part  of  the  money  paid  for  his  work  as  a  dyna- 
miter, he  had  been  relieved  of  what  he  had  left  by 
his  wife — down  to  his  stickpin — and  after  being  put 
in  jail  he  was  in  a  fair  way  of  being  made  the  goat 
for  the  whole  business. 

There  were  influences  inside  of  the  Los  Angeles 
jail  that  we  had  to  watch.  For  a  time  McManigal 
had  a  cellmate  whose  attorney  was  also  one  of  the 


THE    MASKED    WAR  281 

lawyers  for  the  McNamara  defense.  We  feared 
that  this  prisoner  might  try  to  pump  McManigal 
and  serve  as  a  spy  for  the  McNamara  camp.  Mc- 
Manigal was  also  reached  by  J.  J.  McNamara 
through  a  prisoner  known  as  "Happy,"  who  was  a 
trusty  and  could  communicate  between  cells.  Fin- 
ally our  man  was  changed  to  another  cell,  but  it 
was  a  dark  basement  cell,  and  McManigal  was  ten 
times  more  miserable  there.  His  health  became 
poor  and  McLaren  worried  greatly  about  him. 
The  McNamaras  were  allowed  pillows,  cushions 
and  other  things  for  comfort,  and  finally  McLaren 
made  a  fight  for  his  charge  and  got  him  back  to  a 
cell  where  he  could  get  some  sunshine.  Daily  we 
had  McLaren  talk  with  him  in  an  effort  to  keep  his 
mind  relieved  of  the  things  that  were  worrying 
him  so  greatly.  McLaren  brought  him  papers, 
fruit  and  cigars  and  saw  him  morning,  afternoon, 
and  night.  Of  course  the  purpose  was  as  much 
to  keep  him  under  surveillance  in  his  cell  as  to  hold 
him  steady  to  the  prosecution's  side. 

The  wife  having  failed  to  turn  McManigal  to 
the  defense,  the  uncle,  George  Behm,  was  then 
brought  to  Los  Angeles  and  thrown  into  the  breach. 
As  a  boy  McManigal  had  just  grown  up  by  himself. 
Among  the  few  people  that  had  been  kind  to  him 
was  this  uncle  and  he  remembered  him  with  genuine 
affection.  His  own  father,  in  whose  barn  at  Tiffin, 
Ohio,  Ortie  had  made  a  dynamite  cache,  had  done 
nothing  to  aid  him  in  his  plight.     His  own  wife  had 


282  THE    MASKED    WAR 

turned  against  him.  The  man  wanted  some  blood 
tie  to  turn  to  and  when  he  learned  that  this  friendly 
uncle  was  on  his  way  he  cheered  up.  He  would 
have  some  one  he  could  talk  to,  some  one  he  could 
hope  to  find  encouragement  in. 

There  was  nothing  promising  to  us,  however,  in 
the  coming  of  this  uncle,  for  the  lawyers  for  the 
defense  had  roped  him  and  Uncle  George  was  being 
brought  to  Los  Angeles  to  help  the  McNamaras 
and  not  his  nephew. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

WORSE   THAN    ANY   THIRD    DEGREE 

How  McManigal's  uncle  was  used  against  him  is 
best  told  in  the  report  written  by  McLaren  and 
turned  in  to  Manager  Mills  of  the  Los  Angeles 
headquarters  of  our  agency  on  Thursday,  June  29th, 
191 1.    His  report  is  as  follows : 

"Inv.  M.  McL.  reports: 

"At  8.00  a.  m.,  I  arrived  at  the  Agency  when 
Manager  E.  R.  M.  and  I  discussed  the  many  differ- 
ent angles  the  case  has  assumed  in  the  last  few  days. 
Plans  were  made  to  meet  the  situation  fully. 

"Leaving  the  office  at  10:30  a.  m.  with  Manager 
E.  R.  M.,  we  went  to  the  County  Jail  to  see  Mc- 
Manigal.  Before  going  up  to  see  Mac,  I  talked 
with  Jailer  Gallagher.  He  told  me  that  Ortie  had 
acted  something  awful  this  morning.  It  seems  that 
Ortie's  uncle,  George  Behm,  passed  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street  from  the  jail  and  Ortie  saw  him 
from  the  jail  window.  Ortie  pounded  on  the  wire 
screen,  and  called  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  'Oh,  Uncle 
George,  here  I  am.  Oh,  come  up,  and  see  me,  Uncle 
George.'     In  a  hysterical  way,  Ortie  kept  this  up 

283 


284  THE   MASKED   WAR 

until  quite  a  crowd  had  gathered  in  front  of  the 
jail. 

"Gallagher  had  to  go  up  and  lock  Mac  in  a  cell 
away  from  the  window.  Gallagher  said  that  Mac 
acted  like  a  crazy  man.  He  also  said  that  Uncle 
George  did  not  come  to  the  jail  to  see  Mac.  I  will 
here  state  that  Ortie's  uncle  arrived  in  Los  Angeles 
yesterday  and  was  with  Mrs.  Manigal  at  the  Job 
Harriman  apartments  last  night. 

"Ortie  is  in  a  very  nervous  condition  bordering 
on  a  collapse.  The  tactics  the  attorneys  for  the 
defense  are  using,  look  to  me  as  if  they  were  trying 
to  unbalance  Mac's  mind.  First,  they  have  turned 
his  wife  against  him;  second,  they  have  refused  to 
bring  his  children  to  see  him;  third,  they  have 
paraded  his  uncle  past  the  jail  where  they  knew 
Mac  would  see  him,  and  up  to  this  writing,  twelve 
o'clock  midnight,  his  uncle  has  not  called  upon  him. 
This  last  was  a  bitter  blow  to  Ortie.  This  uncle 
had  practically  been  a  father  to  him,  he  having  lived 
with  him  a  great  deal  in  his  younger  days. 

"The  last  few  days  Mac  has  been  telling  me  how 
much  he  thought  of  Uncle  George,  and  many  times 
he  said,  'He  will  not  go  back  on  me.' 

"After  Gallagher  had  told  me  of  the  Uncle 
George  affair,  I  went  up  and  saw  Ortie.  I  advised 
him  and  pleaded  with  him  to  try  and  control  himself, 
I  told  him  that  every  move  and  action  of  his  was 
watched  by  'trusties'  in  the  jail  and  everything  he 
did  or  said  was  being  carried  to  J.  J.     I  told  him 


THE    MASKED   WAR  285 

how  his  actions  of  this  morning  would  be  grabbed 
by  the  defense  attorneys.  They  would  say  he  was 
insane  or  anything  else  to  discredit  him.  He  said, 
'I  know  it,  I  know  it,  but  my  God,  they  are  torturing 
me.'  Mac  told  me  that  he  had  not  slept  for  five 
nights,  and  before  leaving  I  saw  Jailer  Gallagher, 
and  requested  him  to  have  the  doctor  give  Mac 
something  to  make  him  sleep." 

This  third  degree  work  from  the  sidewalk  was 
kept  up  for  some  time,  the  trips  of  the  uncle  being 
timed  carefully  so  that  McManigal  would  be  at 
the  window.  McLaren  had  a  task  on  his  hands 
convincing  his  charge  that  these  trips  were  designed 
to  break  him  down  and  that  he  could  expect  nothing 
from  his  relative. 

When  we  got  McLaren's  report  of  how  this 
scheme  worked  we  lost  no  time  in  getting  ready  for 
any  charge  by  the  defense  that  McManigal  was  irre- 
sponsible. He  had  acted  like  a  crazy  man  at  the 
window  and  we  knew  that  the  lawyers  for  the  de- 
fense had  been  fully  informed  of  this.  We  looked 
into  the  future  and  laid  plans  to  offset  any  contention 
that  McManigal  was  mentally  defective.  We  sent 
operatives  to  his  home  town  and  among  relatives 
and  friends  who  could  give  accounts  as  witnesses  of 
his  actions  since  childhood.  We  looked  up  his  com- 
pany officers  when  he  was  in  the  army  and  through 
them  we  could  prove  that  he  was  not  mentally  de- 
fective but  was  sound  in  mind  and  body  when  he 


286  THE    MASKED    WAR 

was  enlisted  in  the  Ohio  regiment  during  the  Spanish 
War. 

We  were  always  ready  for  emergencies,  always 
looking  into  the  future  and  at  no  time  did  we  leave 
a  single  man  engaged  in  the  defense  of  the  Mc- 
Namaras  unshadowed.  We  had  an  operative  wait- 
ing on  the  restaurant  table  where  these  gentlemen 
gathered  for  lunch,  we  had  operatives  always  keep- 
ing Tveitmoe  and  his  associates  under  surveillance, 
we  had  operatives  watching  Mrs.  McManigal  and 
Uncle  George  all  the  time  and  then  we  had  the 
quiet  but  efficient  dictagraph  working  at  cell  win- 
dows in  the  jail. 

We  had  trouble  making  Uncle  George  answer 
questions  before  the  Grand  Jury  after  he  did  finally 
visit  his  nephew,  McManigal,  but  we  made  him 
answer  after  charging  him  with  contempt.  When 
he  was  finally  brought  around  the  relative  from 
Portage,  Wis.,  was  amazed  and  stunned  when  he 
found  the  District  Attorney  asking  him  about  things 
only  he  and  McManigal  had  spoken  of  in  the  latter' s 
cell.     He  had  not  heard  of  the  dictagraph. 

It  will  probably  give  E.  A.  Clancy,  one  of  "Old 
Man"  Tveitmoe's  chief  labor  allies  on  the  Coast, 
a  feeling  otherwise  than  that  of  gratification  to 
know  how  well  he  was  watched  during  those  days 
preceding  the  trial,  for  it  was  Clancy  who  shouted 
approval  to  a  toast  to  the  McNamaras  offered  by 
one  of  my  men. 

Operative  No.  36  had  the  job  of  keeping  tabs 


THE    MASKED    WAR  287 

on  the  San  Francisco  Labor  Council.  His  report 
of  July  9th,  191 1,  will  undoubtedly  interest  Mr. 
Clancy  and  his  friends.     It  is  as  follows: 

"Continuing  on  operation  this  morning  at  8  130 
a.  m.,  I  took  the  9  :oo  a.  m.  boat  for  Sausalito. 
Arriving  at  Sausalito  I  took  the  train  to  Fairfax 
Park,  Marine  County.  This  park  was  selected  by 
the  International  Association  of  Bridge  and  Struc- 
tural Iron  Workers  comprising  the  following  locals: 
No.  31,  No.  77,  No.  78,  of  San  Francisco,  and  No. 
117  of  Oakland.  All  of  the  most  prominent  mem- 
bers of  the  locals  were  present. 

"P.  H.  McCarthy,  with  President  Joe  Sullivan, 
of  the  Police  Commission,  were  conspicuous  figures. 
McCarthy  asked  the  gatekeeper  how  many  tickets 
had  been  sold  at  the  gate,  and  he  said  about  five 
hundred  and  about  twelve  hundred  more  had  been 
taken  in,  making  about  seventeen  hundred.  Johan- 
son  and  E.  B.  Morton  got  on  the  train  when  we  got 
to  Corte  Madera,  and  when  we  arrived  at  the 
park,  we  met  E.  A.  Clancy  of  No.  78  and  Dan 
Cameron  of  No.  77,  Paul  Reiner  of  No.  117  Oak- 
land and  R.  W.  Smith  of  No.  31. 

"We  were  at  the  bar  drinking  when  P.  H.  Mc- 
Carthy and  Sullivan  arrived,  and  after  a  few  mo- 
ments, Clancy  said  to  P.  H.  McCarthy:  'Well,  if 
J.  J.  McNamara  had  have  been  here  to-day,  these 
grounds  would  not  have  held  the  crowd.'  P.  H. 
McCarthy  replied,  'No,  but  if  you  people  think  I 


288  THE    MASKED    WAR 

would  stand  for  anything  like  that,  why  you  must 
be  crazy.  Why,  in  the  first  place,  the  Sheriff  of 
Los  Angeles  would  not  take  any  such  chances,  and 
I  certainly  would  not  ask  the  Governor  to  inter- 
cede.' 

"Clancy  replied,  'His  presence  here  would  have 
shown  the  people  here  in  San  Francisco  though 
that  we  had  some  manhood  left  in  our  organization 
yet.' 

"Dan  Cameron  of  No.  77  replied,  'Oh,  we  don't 
care  what  the  people  think,  it  is  what  we  think.' 

"Johanson  said,  'Well,  they  are  only  trying  Mc- 
Namara  for  murder.  Who  are  they  going  to  arrest 
for  the  destruction  of  the  Times  Building?' 

"P.  H.  McCarthy  said,  'Oh,  just  wait,  the  watch 
dogs  are  in  hiding  just  now,  but  you  will  hear  them 
barking  again  soon.' 

"Morton  said,  'Well,  they  hounded  Mrs.  Caplan 
all  over  Frisco  and  came  out  to  my  house,  but  I 
don't  think  they  will  come  again  in  a  hurry.  I  don't 
think  that  she  has  either  had  a  letter  or  heard  from 
him.  She  has  always  been  a  lady  in  my  house  and 
I  will  always  stand  by  her.' 

"I  proposed  a  toast  to  the  McNamara  brothers, 
and  Clancy  replied,  'Good  for  you,  old  horse;  you 
are  right.'  P.  H.  McCarthy  said  he  would  go  over 
and  see  the  ladies.  Dan  Cameron  said,  'Well,  if 
it  was  a  carpenter  that  was  in  trouble,  he  would  be 
different,  but  Mac  has  always  given  us  the  worst  of 
it  on  every  deal.' 


THE    MASKED    WAR  289 

"At  this  time,  E.  B.  Morton  asked  me  to  come 
and  have  a  little  lunch.  We  went  down  to  a  table 
occupied  by  Mrs.  Anton  Johanson,  where  we  had 
a  bottle  of  beer  and  sandwiches.  Mrs.  Johanson 
said,  it  seemed  good  to  have  Anton  home  during  the 
day  as  he  had  to  be  in  Brother  O.  A.  Tveitmoe's 
office  so  much  since  he  was  away. 

"Morton  said,  'Well,  he  is  working  for  a  good 
cause.  There  will  come  a  time  when  Anton  will  be 
recognized  by  the  union  men  more  than  he  is  now.' 

"At  this  time,  6:00  p.  m.,  Johanson  and  Morton 
decided  to  go  home,  so  I  rode  down  with  them  to 
Corte  Madero,  where  they  left  the  train  and  I  re- 
turned to  the  city. 

"I  discontinued  at  7:30  p.  m. 

"Reported  L.  A. 

"July  10,  191 1." 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE   ORGANIZATION    EXPOSED 

During  the  summer  of  191 1  all  the  resources  of 
my  agency  were  used  in  making  a  case  for  the  prose- 
cution that  would  stand  any  test  that  the  money 
and  brains  of  the  defense  might  give  it.  I  gave  my 
entire  attention  to  running  down  every  bit  of  infor- 
mation secured  by  my  operatives  and  daily  made 
out  lists  of  assignments  for  the  men  working  on 
the  case.  As  they  investigated  and  sent  in  their 
reports  by  wire  and  by  mail  we  would  sift  the  wheat 
from  the  chaff  and  add  new  witnesses,  new  affidavits 
and  new  exhibits  to  our  gradually  growing  mass  of 

evidence. 

It  was  reasonable  to  believe  that  the  biggest  ef- 
fort of  the  defense  would  be  to  save  J.  J.  McNa- 
mara,  the  secretary-treasurer  of  the  union.  We  had 
his  weakling  brother,  J.  B.,  tight  in  the  grip  of  the 
law  and  it  must  have  been  conceded  that  there  was 
no  hope  for  him  whatever.  As  matters  turned  out, 
finally,  the  defense  was  perfectly  willing  to  let  J.  B. 
plead  guilty  and  go  to  the  gallows  if  by  doing  this 
J.  J.  could  be  saved.  It  was  far  from  our  intention 
to  have  any  such  finale  to  the  case,  for  J.  J.  Mc- 

290 


THE    MASKED    WAR  291 

Namara  was  the  more  dangerous  man  of  the  two 
and  had  been  the  brains  and  directing  force  of  the 
union  in  its  war  against  society.  It  was  by  his  word 
that  the  business  agents  of  the  union  gathered  An- 
archists and  others  to  send  them  on  their  way  of 
destruction  of  life  and  property  and  it  was  through 
him  that  the  money  was  paid  for  the  committing 
of  crimes  which  made  this  warfare  assume  the  pro- 
portions of  a  revolution. 

Not  a  day  passed  from  the  time  of  the  arrests  of 
the  McNamaras  and  McManigal  that  Operative 
McLaren  did  not  work  with  the  prisoner  who  had 
turned  informer.  We  had  McManigal's  confession, 
but  I  knew  that  gradually  he  would  recall  things  in 
his  career  as  a  dynamiter  which  might  help  us  in 
securing  new  evidence.  Each  day  McLaren  would 
turn  the  conversation  gradually  to  dynamiting  and 
McManigal  would  begin  to  talk  about  some  phase 
or  incident  of  the  war  he  had  participated  in.  Every 
word  of  information  thus  received  from  the  prisoner 
was  embodied  in  a  report  at  the  end  of  the  day  and, 
regardless  of  time,  distance,  or  expense,  operatives 
were  made  to  go  back  over  the  trail  of  the  dyna- 
miters to  get  evidence  verifying  McManigal's  state- 
ments. 

In  this  way  we  learned  that  J.  J.  McNamara  had 
not  been  above  lugging  nitroglycerin  around  the 
country  himself.  Just  prior  to  starting  for  the  con- 
vention of  the  International  Union  held  at  Roches- 
ter,  N.  Y.,   in   September,    19 10,   J.   J.   packed   a 


292  THE    MASKED    WAR 

ten-quart  can  of  the  explosive  in  a  box  made  for 
carrying  purposes  and  another  ten-quart  can  in  a 
telescope  valise  at  headquarters  in  Indianapolis. 
He  called  in  McManigal  and  the  two  took  the  "Big 
Four"  train  for  Cleveland.  In  the  Ohio  city  they 
went  to  the  Forest  City  Hotel,  taking  the  nitro- 
glycerin as  part  of  their  hand  baggage.  They 
registered  and  later  in  the  day,  by  appointment,  J. 
J.  met  Business  Agent  Smith  of  the  union  on  the 
street  and  passed  him  the  twenty  quarts  of  explosive. 
McManigal  saw  the  transfer.  J.  J.  then  went  East 
to  the  convention  and  McManigal  returned  to  In- 
dianapolis where  he  cashed  a  check  for  $250  given 
him  by  his  chief.  We  ran  this  out  quickly,  finding 
the  hotel  register  in  Cleveland  and  tracing  the 
record  of  the  check  transaction.  Afterward  we  got 
Smith  along  with  the  other  conspirators  who  were 
tried  in  the  United  States  court  at  Indianapolis. 

The  convention  was  in  progress  in  Rochester 
when  the  Los  Angeles  horror  was  perpetrated  and 
the  atrocities  of  the  masked  war  reached  the  climax 
with  the  murder  of  twenty-one  innocent  men. 
Among  the  union  leaders  there  was  Clancy  of  San 
Francisco.  Of  course,  Clancy  knew  of  the  plot  to 
destroy  the  building  of  the  Times,  but,  it  seems,  he 
had  not  expected  such  a  terrific  result.  It  was 
during  one  of  the  conversations  between  McLaren 
and  McManigal  in  the  Los  Angeles  prison  that  the 
latter  recalled  a  conversation  with  J.  B.  McNamara 
concerning  Mr.  Clancy. 


THE    MASKED    WAR  293 

"In  talking  with  Ortie  McManigal  to-day,"  re- 
ported McLaren,  "he  recalled  a  conversation  with 
J.  B.  McNamara  while  they  were  hiding  in  the 
Wisconsin  woods  after  the  Times  explosion.  J.  B. 
said  that  when  he  blew  up  the  Times  Clancy  was 
attending  the  convention  at  Rochester.  He  read  of 
the  explosion  in  the  newspapers  and  immediately 
sent  word  to  an  ironworker  known  as  'Shorty,'  who 
lives  in  San  Francisco,  to  go  to  his  (Clancy's)  house 
and  clean  up,  meaning  by  this  to  destroy  everything 
that  would  show  his  connection  with  the  dynamiting 
that  was  being  done  throughout  the  country. 

"McManigal  said  that  J.  B.  laughed  heartily 
when  he  told  of  the  scramble  by  'Shorty'  and 
Clancy's  wife  to  get  rid  of  everything  incriminating 
in  the  house." 

It  is  probable  that  J.  J.  McNamara  and  his  fel- 
low conspirators  felt  that  their  presence  in  conven- 
tion in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  at  the  time  of  the  Los 
Angeles  explosion  would  serve  as  a  sign  and  good 
evidence  to  the  world  that  the  Structural  Iron  Work- 
ers' representatives  had  nothing  to  do  with  this 
dreadful  crime.  They  were  all  assembled  in  orderly 
and  parliamentary  meeting  in  a  city  thousands  of 
miles  away.  The  convention  had  paid  a  tribute  to 
J.  J.  McNamara.  His  work  as  the  secretary- 
treasurer  was  lauded  and  the  progress  of  the  strike 
was  considered  satisfactory.  The  fact  that  the 
great  majority  of  the  executive  council  of  the  union 
knew  of  and  participated  in  the  war   against  the 


294  THE    MASKED    WAR 

employers  was  not  suspected  by  the  public  generally. 
The  alarm  clock  scheme  of  setting  off  explosions 
always  permitted  the  agents  of  the  union  to  estab- 
lish alibis  for  each  explosion  and  in  this  instance  the 
men  directing  the  wholesale  murder  in  Los  Angeles 
had  arranged  all  the  plans  before  starting  East. 

One  would  think  that  with  a  spark  of  humanity 
left  in  the  hearts  of  these  men  they  would  have  given 
pause  when  it  became  known  that  the  destruction 
of  the  Times  had  entailed  the  sacrifice  of  the  lives 
of  so  many  innocent  people,  all  working  men  and 
all  heads  of  families.  The  accounts  of  the  anguish 
of  the  widows  and  children  as  they  flocked  to  the 
smouldering  ruins  of  the  building  in  Los  Angeles 
to  claim  the  burned  and  battered  bodies  of  husbands 
and  fathers  might  have  stirred  them  uneasily,  any 
normal  being  might  believe.  No  pity,  regret  or 
horror  moved  them. 

J.  J.  McNamara  returned  to  Indianapolis.  Olaf 
Tveitmoe,  the  "Old  Man"  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  to 
whom  J.  B.  had  reported  for  his  murderous  assign- 
ment and  who  supplied  the  two  Anarchists,  Caplan 
and  Schmidt,  to  him  as  assistants,  immediately  went 
into  the  conference  with  J.  J.  He  urged  that  other 
dynamiting  follow  the  Los  Angeles  horror.  He 
told  J.  J.  that  it  would  never  do  to  let  them  stop 
on  the  Pacific  Coast.  "We  must  keep  up  the  big 
noise,"  he  told  J.  J.,  "so  that  the  authorities  will 
think  that  the  explosions  are  local  and  are  not  di- 
rected from  headquarters.     If  there  are  more  ex- 


THE    MASKED    WAR  295 

plosions  on  the  Pacific  Coast  they  will  never  think 
of  looking  in  the  East  for  those  responsible." 

It  was  this  argument  that  induced  J.  J.  to  sum- 
mon McManigal  to  Indianapolis  as  soon  as  he 
reached  headquarters  and  order  him  to  go  to  Los 
Angeles  and  try  to  blow  up  the  auxiliary  plant  of 
the  Times  and  the  Llewellyn  Iron  Works. 

McManigal  told  us  that  he  protested  against 
going  at  that  time,  for  the  whole  country  was 
alarmed  and  horror  stricken. 

"Well,"  replied  J.  J.,  "you  have  got  to  go  out 
there  and  make  a  big  noise.  Look  at  the  chances 
J.  B.  ran.  Now  if  you  go  out  there  and  get  these 
two  places  it  will  throw  suspicion  from  him." 

J.  J.,  Tveitmoe  and  the  rest  of  the  conspirators 
had  long  used  the  scheme  of  setting  off  explosions 
at  the  same  time  in  widely  distant  parts  of  the 
country  so  as  to  puzzle  the  authorities  and  make 
them  confine  their  investigations  to  different  locali- 
ties and  they  thought  that  the  plan  would  continue 
to  work  successfully.  They  did  not  know  that  we 
had  the  telltale  clockwork  bombs  that  had  failed  to 
explode,  the  one  found  at  East  Peoria  and  the  other 
that  we  picked  up  in  Los  Angeles.  We  had  un- 
covered their  plans  of  warfare  and  while  the  au- 
thorities of  different  cities  were  busy  with  futile  in- 
vestigations, each  in  his  own  jurisdiction,  we  were 
headed  for  Indianapolis  and  gradually  closing  in  on 
the  main  camp. 


CHAPTER  XLI 


EXPECTED  "GREAT  AND  BLOODY  WAR" 


Pending  the  trial  in  Los  Angeles,  we  continued 
weaving  the  net  about  J.  J.  McNamara  stronger 
and  stronger  as  the  summer  of  191 1  wore  on.  Mc- 
Laren practically  lived  in  prison  with  McManigal, 
guarding  him  and  protecting  him  from  those  in- 
fluences powerful  enough  to  reach  within  the  jail. 
He  proved  a  never  ending  well  of  information  and 
McLaren's  reports  kept  many  of  our  staff  busy  all 
the  time. 

Circumstantial  evidence,  when  backed  by  exhibits, 
always  proves  powerful  before  a  jury.  An  exhibit, 
an  inanimate  thing,  does  not  offer  the  defense  a 
chance  to  exert  its  power  in  cross-examination.  In- 
animate things  can't  lie  or  get  flustered.  There  is 
no  color  for  or  against  the  accused  in  the  evidence 
given  by  a  mute  thing.  It  stands  as  cold,  bare  fact. 
Thus  we  built  up  the  case  against  J.  J. 

McManigal  told  McLaren  that  about  June  22nd, 
19 10,  while  he  was  in  Detroit  with  J.  B.  Mc- 
Namara, the  latter  received  a  general  delivery 
letter  from  his  brother.  J.  J.  had  enclosed  a  receipt 
for  an  express  package.     The  package  was  in  the 

296 


THE    MASKED    WAR  297 

office  of  the  Adams  Express  Company  and  it  con- 
tained three  clocks  and  batteries  all  made  up  for 
the  job  they  had  been  sent  on.  This  information 
received,  a  telegram  to  an  operative  in  Detroit  was 
all  that  was  necessary  to  start  the  work  of  digging 
into  the  records  of  the  express  company  and  cor- 
roborating the  sending  and  receiving  of  this  pack- 
age. We  found  J.  B.'s  receipt  and  the  record  of 
the  whole  transaction  from  the  time  the  package 
was  given  in  the  care  of  the  company  until  it  was 
delivered  and  taken  away. 

Again,  McManigal  recalled  that  on  December 
7th,  1910,  he  received  a  postal  money  order  from  J. 
J.  for  seventy  dollars.  McManigal  was  then  at  his 
home  in  Chicago.  He  cashed  the  money  order  at 
Graham's  Bank  on  West  Madison  Street.  We 
traced  this  documentary  evidence  easily.  On  the 
same  day  McManigal  received  a  telegram  from 
J.  J.  telling  him  to  come  to  Indianapolis  and  bring 
his  suitcases.  There  was  work  for  him.  The 
money  was  for  expenses.  The  message  telling  him 
to  bring  his  suitcases  plainly  meant  that  he  would 
take  a  journey  with  a  good  supply  of  ammunition. 
There  was  easily-traced  sequence  in  these  facts  and 
the  directing  hand  of  J.  J.  McNamara  showed  all 
through  them  in  a  way  that  could  convince  any  jury. 

We  thoroughly  uncovered  the  complicity  of  the 
majority  of  the  members  of  the  executive  body  of 
the  union  in  the  dynamiting  war,  getting  positive 
evidence  that  they  approved  the  expenditure  of  one 


298  THE    MASKED    WAR 

thousand  dollars  a  month  through  the  hands  of 
J.  J.  McNamara  to  those  who  did  the  actual  work 
of  destruction.  The  bills  were  duly  audited  by  a 
committee  and  the  reports  of  the  dynamiters  were 
made  by  sending  newspaper  clippings  giving  accounts 
of  the  various  explosions  for  which  the  union's  of- 
ficials in  Indianapolis  had  supplied  nitroglycerin, 
dynamite  and  men  to  set  it  off. 

We  uncovered  the  trail  of  J.  J.  McNamara  to 
Tulsa,  Oklahoma,  and  the  man  named  Kiser,  who 
sold  him  large  quantities  of  explosive  before  Mc- 
Manigal  was  brought  into  the  circle  of  conspirators 
to  help  J.  B.  with  the  major  part  of  the  work.  J.  J. 
was  then  going  under  the  name  of  Clark,  an  alias 
he  used  at  different  times.  Kiser  picked  his  photo- 
graph out  of  a  collection  of  pictures  and  identified 
it  as  the  man  he  had  sold  the  explosive  to.  Mc- 
Manigal  also  had  used  the  name  of  Clark  in  ship- 
ping empty  carrying  cases  for  explosives  to  him  in 
Indianapolis  and  we  were  able  to  trace  these  ex- 
press packages. 

The  trails  of  the  two  McNamaras  were  from  one 
dynamite  and  nitroglycerin  cache  to  another  and 
although  I  had  but  little  time  in  which  to  indulge 
in  an  attempt  at  a  sociological  study  of  what  was 
unfolding  before  me,  as  my  men  made  their  reports, 
it  was  palpable  that  the  conspirators  had  brought 
their  activities  to  a  point  where  at  any  moment  the 
country  might  have  been  plunged  into  bloody  revo- 
lution and  anarchy. 


THE    MASKED    WAR  299 

After  his  arrest,  J.  B.  McNamara  boldly  declared 
to  one  of  the  Chicago  detectives  having  him  in 
charge,  that  it  was  unfortunate  that  he  had  been 
caught  when  he  was.  "If  I  had  not  been  arrested 
so  soon,"  he  told  Detective  William  S.  O'Callaghan, 
"the  working  people  would  have  had  a  chance  to 
live.  There  will  be  a  great  and  bloody  war  be- 
tween capital  and  labor." 

Certainly  it  seemed  that  such  a  war  was  shaping, 
for  enough  explosives  had  been  cached  at  different 
times  by  the  McNamaras  and  their  fellow  conspira- 
tors to  have  equipped  an  army  for  operations  against 
a  warring  nation.  Again,  J.  B.  declared  that  the 
destruction  of  the  Los  Angeles  Times  was  not  such 
a  great  matter  and  that  the  plan  was  to  destroy  the 
whole  city  of  Los  Angeles  if  the  attacks  on  the 
union  emanating  from  that  city  did  not  cease.  The 
plan  of  the  conspirators  was  to  blow  up  the  water 
works,  lighting  plants  and  public  buildings,  wreck- 
ing the  entire  community  regardless  of  cost  to  hu- 
man life  and  regardless  of  the  suffering  that  would 
come  to  perfectly  innocent,  law-abiding  people. 

The  McClintic-Marshall  Company,  especially 
hated  by  the  union  conspirators,  had  a  contract  for 
the  steel  work  in  one  of  the  lock  sections  of  the 
Panama  Canal  and  McManigal  was  sounded  by  J. 
B.  to  see  whether  he  would  go  to  the  Canal  and 
throw  enough  dynamite  in  this  particular  lock  to 
wreck  the  great  work  of  national  defense.  At  no 
time  was  there  the  faintest  trace  of  consideration 


3oo  THE    MASKED    WAR 

for  the  rest  of  the  eighty  or  ninety  millions  of  peo- 
ple making  up  the  citizenship  of  the  United  States. 
From  ambush  these  men,  drunk  with  the  power  they 
had  acquired  through  years  of  successful  violence 
and  defiance  of  the  law,  were  ready  to  utterly  wreck 
the  Republic. 

In  coping  with  these  hidden  enemies  of  society 
and  the  laws  of  the  Republic,  the  police  of  the  vari- 
ous cities,  where  the  outrages  were  committed, 
proved  themselves  utterly  hopeless.  Their  investi- 
gations ended  with  formal  reports  detailing  a  few 
obvious  facts.  No  trails  were  opened  up  and  no 
clues  developed.  Then,  too,  the  regular  police 
forces  of  American  cities  are  generally  a  part  of  the 
political  machine  of  the  party  in  office  and  hereto- 
fore the  unions  have  played  in  politics  extensively. 

The  work  my  agency  undertook  was  a  work 
which  another  and  one-time  famous  private  detec- 
tive agency  had  tried  to  accomplish  and  had  failed 
to  do  anything  with.  The  police  had  given  up  try- 
ing. During  the  many  years  in  which  I  served  the 
United  States  in  the  Secret  Service  I  had  been  for- 
tunate in  bringing  every  problem  put  before  me  to  a 
successful  conclusion.  I  had  not  failed  in  a  single 
instance.  My  father  had  been  the  police  commis- 
sioner of  Columbus,  Ohio,  when  I  was  a  boy.  He 
had  not  been  appointed  by  a  political  boss  or  by 
a  mayor  who  owed  his  election  to  a  machine,  but 
had  been  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city.  I  sup- 
pose it  was  through  the  fact  that  my  father  was  at 


THE    MASKED    WAR  301 

the  head  of  a  police  force  and  could  direct  that 
force  intelligently  and  without  political  interference 
that  I  became  interested  in  the  art  of  detecting  crim- 
inals. Certain  it  was  that  when  I  began  to  uncover 
the  conspiracy  that  brought  the  Los  Angeles  climax 
I  realized  how  tremendous  was  the  task  before  me 
and  how  important  it  was  that  the  criminals  be 
brought  to  justice.  It  was  more  a  duty  to  the  law- 
abiding  people  of  my  country  that  I  should  bring 
these  criminals  to  bay  than  it  was  a  duty  to  the 
authorities  of  one  city  or  county. 

When  the  trails  to  the  real  center  of  the  con- 
spiracy were  opened  wide  and  the  arrests  followed 
there  was  poured  out  for  me  a  wide  and  bitter 
stream  of  hatred  and  opprobrium.  I  was  pictured 
as  a  vicious  enemy  of  the  workingman  and  the  arch- 
conspirator  employed  in  breaking  up  their  organiza- 
tion. And  yet  at  no  time  was  I  opposed  to  organ- 
ized labor.  I  have  always  believed  that  the  organi- 
zation of  labor  meant  good  for  the  workingman 
and  that  through  it  he  was  benefited  and  would  be 
further  benefited  in  the  future.  I  am  still  of  that 
faith  despite  the  wild  attacks  that  were  and  are 
still  made  against  me  by  men  of  the  type  of  the  Mc- 
Namaras  and  others  who  have  things  hidden  they 
are  afraid  of. 


CHAPTER    XLII 

"down  with  detective  burns!" 

On  the  eve  of  the  trial  of  the  McNamaras,  Mr. 
Gompers  addressed  and  inflamed  the  passions  of  a 
great  crowd  of  people  in  Philadelphia  in  the  Labor 
Lyceum.  The  date  was  October  ioth,  191 1.  I  had 
been  plentifully  attacked  before  that  and  even  mov- 
ing-picture shows  had  been  put  on  to  show  the  work- 
ing people  how  I  had  "kidnapped"  the  innocent 
McNamaras. 

In  Philadelphia  a  McNamara  parade  was  held 
and  15,000  people  participated  in  it.  Red  fire,  red 
flags  and  transparencies  were  carried  in  the  parade 
and  a  union  of  Jewish  Garment  Makers  displayed 
a  big  sign  reading: 

"Down  with  Detective  Burns,  the  Kidnapper." 

At  this  meeting  Gompers  raged  against  the  man- 
ner of  the  arrest  of  the  McNamaras,  declaring  that 
I  had  entered  a  meeting  of  the  executive  council  of 
the  ironworkers  and  had  lured  J.  J.  to  the  sidewalk 
and  had  then  kidnapped  him  and  rushed  him  across 
the  country  to  a  hostile  city  for  trial.  He  told  pa- 
thetically of  talking  with  the  two  accused  men  just 
before  coming  to  Philadelphia  and  painted  them  as 

302 


THE    MASKED    WAR  303 

pure  and  spotless  when,  even  at  that  time,  there  was 
consideration  of  the  question  of  trying  to  save  J.  J. 
McNamara  by  sending  his  younger  brother  and  his 
weakling  tool  to  the  gallows. 

Gompers  pictured  the  two  McNamaras  as  mar- 
tyrs and  declared  that  the  two  men  were  being 
placed  on  trial  "on  charges  that  we  know  to  be  abso- 
lutely false." 

Now  there  were  plenty  of  Jionest  workingmen 
who  did  believe  the  McNamaras  were  innocent, 
men  who  did  not  know  how  their  money  had  been 
spent  and  who  did  not  know  of  the  black  characters 
of  the  officials  they  trusted.  But  if  ever  there  was 
cheap  hypocrisy  indulged  in  it  was  indulged  in  by 
Gompers  in  these  public  speeches,  made  for  no  other 
purpose  than  to  aid  in  the  cheating  of  justice  and  the 
foiling  of  the  laws  which  are  intended  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  citizens  of  the  country. 

How  strangely  like  a  squeak  sounds  the  impas- 
sioned outburst  of  Gompers  after  the  two  McNa- 
maras have  stood  up  in  court  and  confessed  their 
crimes  in  order  to  escape  the  gallows. 

Here  is  one  of  the  most  widely  spread  appeals 
issued  by  Mr.  Gompers  during  the  trial,  when 
money  was  being  raised,  so  that  there  would  be  no 
dearth  of  it  on  the  Pacific  Coast  during  those  days 
when  witnesses  were  first  offered  any  sums  of 
money  to  change  their  evidence  and  then  threatened 
with  death  in  horrible  forms  when  they  refused  to 
be  bribed: 


304  THE    MASKED    WAR 

"To  All  Workers." 

"For  right  is  right,  since  God  is  God, 
And  right  the  day  must  win; 
To  doubt  would  be  disloyalty, 
To  falter  would  be  sin. 

"From  Los  Angeles  last  October  came  the  news 
that  a  terrible  catastrophe  had  occurred  in  that  city 
— that  the  Los  Angeles  Times  Building  had  been 
destroyed,  with  thejoss  of  a  number  of  lives.  The 
first  word  spoken,  even  before  the  flames  had  com- 
pleted their  destruction,  by  the  emissaries  of  the 
Los  Angeles  Times  contained  positive  accusations 
that  organized  labor  was  responsible  for  the  dis- 
aster. Qualifying  statements  were  conspicuous  by 
their  absence.  Wide  publicity  was  given,  warped 
and  unsupported  allegations  against  the  organized 
workmen  of  the  entire  country  were  featured,  vast 
sums  of  money  were  dangled  in  the  faces  of  un- 
scrupulous men  to  fasten  the  crime  upon  some  mem- 
ber or  members  of  the  trades  unions.  The  Na- 
tional Manufacturers'  Association,  flanked  by  the 
Erectors'  Association,  Citizens'  Alliances,  detective 
agencies,  and  a  hostile  press  brought  their  every 
influence  to  bear  and  appropriated  every  available 
circumstance  to  bulwark  and  fix  in  the  public  mind 
a  mental  attitude  that  the  charges  made  against 
oganized  labor  had  been  proven  beyond  the  per- 
adventure  of  a  doubt. 

"The  authors  of  the  charge,  after  months  of  in- 
trigue and  searching  investigations,  utterly  failed  to 


THE    MASKED    WAR  305 

substantiate  the  flamboyant  and  positive  accusations 
that  had  been  made.  The  public  mind  was  slowly 
emerging  from  the  hypnotic  spell  in  which  it  had 
been  enveloped  and  mutterings  of  suspicion  began 
to  be  heard  against  the  originators  of  the  indict- 
ments against  labor  men.  The  position  of  the  hos- 
tile employers'  associations  became  exceedingly  des- 
perate. The  Times  management,  with  its  years  of 
relentless  warfare  against  humanity,  fearing  that  its 
Belshazzar  feast  of  organized  labor's  blood  was 
about  to  be  denied,  redoubled  its  efforts  and  de- 
manded a  sacrifice  that  its  unholy  appetite  might  be 
appeased,  and  that  some  union  workmen  must  be 
supplied  to  assuage  its  unnatural  and  abnormal  hun- 
ger. 

"The  record  of  events  is  too  well  known  to  make 
it  necessary  to  recount  them  in  detail.  That  'the 
end  justifies  the  means'  became  the  slogan  is  patent. 
With  all  the  forces  of  greed  compactly  joined,  there 
began  a  campaign  of  vandalism  the  like  of  which 
has  never  before  found  lodgment  on  the  pages  of 
our  American  Republic's  history.  A  prominent 
member  of  union  labor  was  selected,  J.  J.  McNa- 
mara,  and  one  at  whom  the  finger  of  suspicion  had 
never  before  pointed,  whose  life  had  been  charac- 
terized by  an  uprightness  of  purpose  and  loyalty  to 
the  cause  of  labor,  and  whose  activities  in  every 
walk  had  drawn  to  him  the  commendation  of  his 
fellows. 

"To  give  the  stage  the  proper  setting,  J.  B.  Mr- 


3o6  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Namara,  the  brother,  was  selected  as  an  associate 
for  sacrifice. 

"With  intrigue,  falsehood,  and  an  utter  disregard 
for  all  guarantees  of  law,  applying  physical  force, 
conniving  with  faithless  officials,  the  two  McNa- 
maras  were  rushed  in  feverish  haste  to  the  scene  of 
the  alleged  crime.  The  rights  of  these  two  men 
had  been  trampled  upon — wilfully,  flagrantly,  wan- 
tonly. 

"Every  man,  even  the  meanest,  under  the  consti- 
tutional guarantees  of  our  country,  is  entitled  to  a 
trial  by  a  jury  of  his  peers,  and  every  man  is  pre- 
sumed to  be  innocent  until  proven  guilty.  This  far 
the  proceedings  had  been  in  violent  disregard  of 
those  guarantees.  The  charge  had  been  hurled 
against  organized  labor,  and  two  of  its  members 
are  now  before  the  bar  to  answer  these  charges. 
What  is  the  duty  of  the  men  and  the  women  of  the 
organized  labor  movement?  What  shall  be  our 
course?  What  effort  shall  we  put  forth  to  see  to 
it  that  justice  shall  fairly  obtain  when  methods  such 
as  these  are  used  against  us? 

"Funds  must  be  provided  to  insure  a  proper  de- 
fense, a  fair  and  impartial  trial.  Eminent  counsel 
have  been  engaged.  Arrangements  are  proceeding 
that  a  proper  defense  may  be  made.  The  great 
need  of  the  hour  is  money  with  which  to  meet  the 
heavy  drains  incident  to  the  collection  of  evidence 
and  other  expense,  made  necessary  to  cope  with  the 


THE    MASKED    WAR  307 

corporate  wealth  and  unlimited  means  behind  the 
persecutors. 

"Every  man  who  is  connected  with  the  kidnap- 
ping of  the  McNamaras  will  be  prosecuted  to  the 
full  limit  of  the  law,  and  a  recurrence  of  the  out- 
rage prevented  for  all  time  to  come.  It  is  proposed 
that  the  interests  of  organized  labor  shall  be  fully 
protected  and  punishment  meted  out  to  detective 
agencies  that  assume  to  be  superior  to  the  law.  The 
rights  of  the  men  of  labor  must  and  shall  be  pre- 
served. 

"The  men  of  labor,  unlike  the  hostile  corpora- 
tions arrayed  against  us,  have  not  vast  resources  of 
wealth  and  power,  but  they  are  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  justice  and  humanity,  and  are  ever  ready 
when  necessary  to  make  sacrifice  for  principle. 

"The  trial  of  the  McNamaras  is  set  for  an  early 
date.  In  the  name  of  justice  and  humanity  all 
members  of  our  organization  and  all  friends  of  jus- 
tice are  urgently  requested  to  contribute  as  liberally 
as  their  abilities  will  permit.  All  contributions 
toward  the  legal  defense  of  the  McNamara  cases 
and  for  the  prosecution  of  the  kidnappers  should 
be  transmitted  as  soon  as  collected  to  Frank  Morri- 
son, No.  801-809  G  street,  N.  W.,  Washington, 
D.  C,  who  will  forward  a  receipt  for  every  contri- 
bution received  and  when  the  cases  have  been  fi- 
nally determined  a  report  of  the  amounts  received 
and  by  whom  donated  and  the  amounts  paid  out  of 


3o8  THE    MASKED    WAR 

this  fund  will  be  printed  and  a  copy  of  same  sent  to 
every  contributor. 

"Yours  fraternally, 

"Samuel  Gompers, 

"President  A.  F.  of  L. 
"Frank  Morrison,  Secretary. 
"By  order  of  the  McNamara  Ways  and  Means 
Committee." 


CHAPTER   XLIII 

THE    UNION   WAS   GANG-RIDDEN 

There  are  plenty  of  high-minded,  clean  and  hon- 
est labor  leaders  and  under  such  men  organized 
labor  has  flourished  and  the  workingmen  have  met 
with  full  and  fair  consideration  of  their  demands 
to  employers.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  rank  and 
file  of  labor  are  willing  to  stand  for  such  atrocities 
as  are  shown  in  the  record  I  have  put  down  in  this 
book.  I  do  not  believe  that  a  man  with  a  job,  a 
craft  and  a  family  would  put  up  money  to  hire 
wholesale  murderers.  How  many  men  with  wives 
and  children  would  have  stood  for  the  proposition 
to  blow  up  a  heavily  loaded  passenger  train  as  it 
crossed  a  high  trestle  just  to  show  the  people  of  the 
United  States  that  the  railroads  could  not  use  rails 
made  in  non-union  shops?  How  many  men  with  a 
spark  of  faith  in  God  or  with  a  jot  of  love  for  hu- 
mankind would  have  contributed  the  murderer's 
hire  to  J.  B.  McNamara  when  he  crept  into  that 
little  alley  filled  with  ink  and  paper  under  the  Los 
Angeles  Times  Building;  when  he  wrenched  the  gas 
jets  from  their  fixture  and  when  his  hand  did  not 
hesitate  as  he  laid  the  bomb  and  a  boy  passed  him 

309 


3io  THE   MASKED   WAR 

going  upstairs  to  his  job  in  the  composing  room? 
Did  this  drunken  and  degenerate  weakling  tool  of 
J.  J.  McNamara,  the  elder  brother,  think  that  that 
boy's  mother  was  waiting  for  him  after  the  night's 
work  and  that  his  wages  meant  her  support  and  her 
life,  and  did  the  cries  of  the  women  and  children 
about  the  ruins  of  the  building  touch  his  heart  for 
one  moment?  Not  much.  Jim  McNamara  spent 
his  blood  money  among  the  lowest  type  of  women 
in  the  lowest  sections  of  San  Francisco,  laughed 
about  his  work  and  his  brother,  whom  Gompers 
lauded  as  spotless  and  noble,  fished  about  for  an  as- 
sassin to  slay  Mary  Dye,  to  blow  her  up  in  a  rail- 
road coach  even  though  many  innocent  people  were 
killed  with  her. 

With  the  cause  of  labor  in  the  hands  of  such  men 
only  wreck  and  ruin  is  ahead  of  it  for  the  law  pre- 
vails in  this  country  and  it  is  going  to  continue  to 
prevail  despite  the  efforts  of  men  of  the  Gompers 
type  who  have  made  the  unions  gang-ridden  and 
lawless.  With  such  men  the  honest  and  capable 
union  workingman  does  not  stand  a  chance  even  in 
his  own  organization.  If  he  rises  and  tries  to  elect 
a  delegate  to  a  convention  whom  he  may  think  will 
be  clean  from  graft,  honest  and  standing  for  lawful 
and  decent  procedure  in  getting  labor's  rights,  a 
wrecking  crew  will  beat  him  down  and  throw  him 
out. 

As  I  have  said  before,  there  are  splendid  men  at 
the  heads  of  some  of  the  unions  and  their  names 


THE    MASKED    WAR  311 

are  without  stain  and  their  unions  have  flourished. 
The  head  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engi- 
neers is  such  a  man,  and  Carter,  the  head  of  the 
Locomotive  Firemen,  is  another.  I  have  never 
heard  that  John  Mitchell  ever  countenanced  acts 
such  as  the  McNamaras  were  guilty  of. 

In  our  investigations  into  the  affairs  of  the  In- 
ternational Association  of  Bridge  and  Structural 
Iron  Workers,  the  organization  betrayed  to  the  An- 
archists by  the  forty  men  afterward  convicted  in 
the  courts,  two  for  murder  and  thirty-eight  for  con- 
spiracy, we  found  how  gang-ridden  it  had  become 
when  we  talked  with  a  highly  intelligent  member  of 
the  union  in  New  York.  This  man  is  the  head  of  a 
family,  the  provider  for  a  wife  and  six  children,  a 
man  of  unusual  intelligence  and  force,  a  skilled 
workman  and  one  who  has  held  almost  every  office 
of  trust  in  his  union.  His  name  is  not  used  because 
of  our  promise  to  him. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  chronicle  and  to  show 
how  gang-ridden  his  union  had  become  we  will  call 
him  Johnson.  He  had  been  an  ironworker  for 
twenty  years,  a  member  of  the  union  for  fifteen 
years  and  for  ten  years  of  that  time  had  held  vari- 
ous offices  in  the  union. 

Johnson's  honesty  was  a  proverbial  matter  with 
the  members  of  his  craft.  He  was  useful  to  the 
union  therefore,  for  any  amount  of  money  could  be 
safely  entrusted  to  him.  But  as  he  was  honest  in 
money  matters  he  was  honest  otherwise  and  would 


312  THE    MASKED    WAR 

not  handle  money  for  crooks  who  infested  the  union. 
From  his  account  of  what  happened  to  him  in  the 
union  the  general  public  will  get  a  pretty  good  idea 
of  what  the  honest  workingman  goes  up  against 
when  crookedness  prevails  in  his  councils. 

"I  have  never  had  any  use  for  a  crook,"  he  told 
me,  "and  there  are  lots  of  them  in  my  organization. 
They  put  me  in  charge  of  moneys,  etc.,  depending 
on  my  honesty  and  loyalty,  if  I  do  say  it  myself,  to 
pass  it  on  without  having  any  of  it  stick  to  my  fin- 
gers even  though  I  knew  of  its  rotten  purpose. 
They  elected  me  to  office  knowing  that  I  wouldn't 
squeal  and  afterward  they  jobbed  me  because  I 
came  out  flat-footed  and  declared  that  I  wouldn't 
have  anything  more  to  do  with  the  crooks  who  were 
sucking  the  money  from  the  poor  devils  who  could 
not  afford  it  and  making  a  royal  living  by  their 
tricks  and  grafting  instincts. 

"If  this  dynamiting  business  had  not  come  up  I 
would  be  out  of  a  job  to-day,  because  I  knew  too 
much,  but  since  it  has  been  brought  out  they  have 
sent  on  from  Indianapolis  to  see  what  kind  of  a  job 
I  would  like.  I  don't  want  their  jobs.  I  am  work- 
ing here  in  New  York  and  am  getting  five  dollars 
a  day.  I  have  a  home  and  a  family  and  I  want  to 
be  left  alone  by  everybody." 

Johnson  lived  up  to  his  reputation  of  being  no 
squealer.  Try  as  hard  as  we  could  we  could  get 
nothing  from  him  save  his  general  and  temperate 
protest  against  the  blood-sucking  methods  of  those 


THE    MASKED    WAR  313 

men  of  his  union  who  made  "royal  livings"  by  bleed- 
ing the  poor  devils  who  could  not  afford  to  pay. 
Johnson  was  a  fine  specimen  of  American  workman, 
a  man  of  pride  and  integrity.  He  hated  a  liar,  a 
thief  and  a  grafter. 

"They  knew  that  I  was  getting  ready  to  make  a 
holler  about  the  rotten  conditions  and  the  rotten 
jobs  and  they  tried  to  get  me  in  a  dozen  different 
ways,"  he  said,  relating  his  union  experiences. 
"During  the  time  of  Sam  Parks  they  blackjacked  me 
right  in  the  meeting  hall  as  I  was  leaving  after  I 
had  expressed  myself  and  I  carry  the  scar  to  this 
day.  I  would  be  willing  to  tell  all  that  I  know,  but 
if  I  did  my  family  would  suffer  and  in  the  end  I 
would  be  hounded  from  pillar  to  post  and  I  would 
not  be  able  to  get  another  job.  I  would  like  to  see 
some  of  the  crooks  in  the  union  go  to  the  scaffold — 
no,  I  don't  mean  that,  for  I  do  not  believe  in  cap- 
ital punishment,  but  I  would  like  to  see  them  sent 
to  some  island  where  they  could  not  practice  their 
rotten  methods  any  more.  I  could  not  stand  for 
anything  underhanded  or  mean  and  that  is  why  I 
did  not  stand  better  with  that  crew,  you  may  be- 
lieve me  or  not.  When  the  wrecking  crew  did  me 
I  told  them  that  some  time  I  would  get  even  and 
then,  when  this  dynamiting  business  began  to  come 
out,  they  fell  over  themselves  trying  to  get  to  me, 
fearing  that  I  would  carry  out  the  old  threat." 

Here  was  one  honest  and  clean  workingman  who 
got  the  blackjack  from  the  grafting  element  in  the 


3H  THE    MASKED    WAR 

union.  There  are  plenty  of  them  in  every  local 
organization  where  men  of  the  type  of  the  McNa- 
maras  and  the  rest  gain  control  and  misrepresent 
the  cause  of  labor. 

I  honestly  believe  that  in  the  end  sincere  friends 
of  labor  organization  will  find  that  the  work  I  did 
in  the  uncovering  of  the  masked  warfare,  with  all 
of  its  horrors  and  depths  of  iniquity,  will  prove  of 
lasting  benefit  to  their  cause.  No  cause  can  flour- 
ish when  grafters  lead  it  and  it  is  my  honest  belief 
that  the  good  sense  of  the  American  people  will  al- 
ways exert  itself  in  dealing  with  big  industrial  prob- 
lems. I  believe  that  the  law  will  never  be  over- 
ridden in  this  country,  for  the  people  themselves 
make  the  law  and  they  elect  the  lawmakers.  I  be- 
lieve that  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  solve 
their  problems  with  intelligence  and  that  the  once 
threatened  savage  warfare  with  torch  and  dynamite 
has  been  proved  futile.  Anarchy  cannot  reign  in 
the  United  States. 


CHAPTER   XLIV 

BURNS   REFUSES   $1,000   A   NIGHT 

Despite  threats  to  kill  and  maim  and  efforts  to 
bribe,  I  kept  on  with  the  preparation  of  the  case. 

In  the  meantime  an  indictment  was  found  against 
me  at  Indianapolis  by  the  Grand  Jury,  charging  me 
with  having  kidnapped  J.  J.  McNamara.  About 
this  time,  I  went  to  Europe  on  a  very  important 
matter,  and  while  there  was  advised  by  cable  by  my 
son  that  an  effort  was  being  made  to  rush  my  case 
at  Indianapolis  and  forfeit  my  bond  of  $10,000.  I 
was  compelled  to  hurry  back  and  go  to  Indianapolis. 

Immediately  after  the  indictment  was  found  I  in- 
sisted strongly  that  I  be  immediately  placed  on  trial 
at  Indianapolis,  as  I  knew  there  was  not  a  particle 
of  evidence  to  sustain  the  charge.  But  my  attor- 
neys pointed  out  that  a  long-drawn-out  trial  might 
prevent  my  presence  at  Los  Angeles,  where  I  would 
be  badly  needed. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  required  vigorous 
action  on  my  part  to  collect  a  portion  of  the  money 
due  me  at  Los  Angeles  for  the  work  I  had  per- 
formed, and  of  all  the  rewards  aggregating  over 
$20,000,  which  melted  like  snow  before  a  summer's 

315 


3i6  THE    MASKED    WAR 

sun,  I  have  thus  far  collected  only  $5,000  from  the 
County  of  Los  Angeles. 

In  the  month  of  November,  191 1,  while  attend- 
ing the  National  Convention  of  the  American 
Bankers'  Association  at  New  Orleans,  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  was  holding  its  Annual  Con- 
vention at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  and  a  resolution  was  passed 
denouncing  the  Bankers  for  having  passed  a  resolu- 
tion of  confidence  in  me. 

Just  before  the  confession  of  guilt  by  the  McNa- 
maras  I  was  informed  by  my  son  Raymond  J.  Burns 
that  an  effort  was  being  made  to  reach  Detective 
Sergeant  Guy  Biddinger  by  the  defense.     A  man 

by  the  name  of Turner,  employed  in  the 

Detective  Agency  of  Thomas  McGuire,  in  Chicago, 
had  approached  Biddinger  and  told  him  there  was 
a  chance  to  get  rich,  and  so  on.  While  Gompers 
was  at  Indianapolis,  Clarence  Darrow  was  called  to 
Indianapolis,  and  when  interviewed  by  the  news- 
paper men  stated  that  he  knew  me  and  that  I  had 
not  planted  the  dynamite,  and  that  I  had  not  framed 
that  case.  Notwithstanding  this  statement  from 
their  own  counsel,  Gompers  and  others  continued  to 
denounce  me  and  charge  me  with  framing  up  the 
case. 

Then  followed  a  warfare  to  stifle  our  witnesses, 
and  an  effort  was  made  everywhere,  first,  to  bribe 
them,  then  to  coerce  them  and  then  to  murder  them. 
J.  B.  McNamara  was  constantly  advising  his  law- 
yers to  get  rid  of  Frank  Eckhoff,  of  Cincinnati,  as 


THE    MASKED    WAR  317 

he  was  a  dangerous  witness  should  I  happen  to  find 
him. 

From  the  very  beginning  I  contended  that  the 
rank  and  file  of  organized  labor  were  not  cognizant 
of  the  action  of  the  McNamaras  nor  did  they  en- 
dorse their  methods,  but,  like  many  honest  men  of 
organized  labor,  insisted  that  such  men  as  McNa- 
mara,  Tveitmoe,  and  others  were  a  menace  to  or- 
ganized labor  and  ultimately  would  destroy  it  if 
permitted  to  carry  on  their  atrocious  and  reckless 
lawlessness. 

Immediately  after  the  confession  of  the  McNa- 
maras I  was  approached  by  a  prominent  theatrical 
manager,  of  New  York,  who  called  on  me  with  a 
contract  written  up  and  signed  by  a  prominent  bank- 
ing firm,  to  insure  its  being  carried  out,  and  offering 
to  pay  me  Ten  Thousand  Dollars  down  and  One 
Thousand  a  night  to  deliver  lectures,  beginning  at 
Boston  and  ending  at  San  Francisco.  When  I 
promptly  refused  this,  the  theater  manager  was 
astounded,  and  asked  me  if  I  realized  what  I  was 
doing.  My  reply  was  that  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  I  needed  the  money,  and  it  was  the  greatest  op- 
portunity ever  presented  me  to  make  that  amount 
of  money  legitimately,  I  stated  that  I  did  not  pro- 
pose to  commercialize  my  connection  with  this 
great  case,  which  had  been  carried  on  in  the 
interest  and  protection  of  Society,  and  that  what 
he  proposed  to  pay  me  a  thousand  a  night  for  tell- 
ing  I   would   tell   the    people   of    this    country,    in 


318  THE    MASKED   WAR 

speeches  and  otherwise,  for  nothing.  This  I  have 
endeavored  to  carry  out  to  the  best  of  my  ability. 

In  doing  this  I  have  denounced  Samuel  Gompers 
for  having  denounced  me,  but  never  charged  that 
Gompers  was  part  of  the  dynamite  conspiracy.  His 
partisans  and  jealous  detectives  and  others  endeav- 
ored to  construe  what  I  said  to  mean  that  I  was 
charging  Gompers  with  being  a  part  of  that  con- 
spiracy. All  I  ever  charged  was  that  he  was  dere- 
lict in  his  duty  as  head  of  organized  labor  in  this 
country.  He  must  have  heard  of  these  explosions 
and  of  the  lawless  manner  in  which  many  of  these 
efforts  for  the  "closed"  shop  were  being  carried  out, 
as  the  Structural  Iron  Workers  were  a  part  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor.  He  was  negligent 
in  his  duty  in  not  taking  some  steps  to  rid  the  honest 
members  of  organized  labor  and  the  great  organi- 
zation of  labor  from  the  stigma  that  must  naturally 
attach  to  them  through  the  action  of  the  violent 
members  participating  in  this  warfare. 

During  my  long  official  career  as  an  Officer,  I 
had  been  called  upon  to  investigate  important  crim- 
inal cases,  that  ultimately  involved  men  in  very  high 
places,  and  as  I  had  never  been  a  respecter  of  per- 
sons in  the  investigation  of  these  crimes,  I  did  not 
hesitate  to  perform  my  duty  as  I  saw  it. 

Therefore,  I  kept  gathering,  as  enemies,  as  con- 
victions followed,  one  after  the  other,  my  various 
investigations,  an  important  group  of  evil  doers, 
who  lost  no  opportunity  to  attack  me  and  attempt 


THE    MASKED   WAR  319 

to  destroy  my  character  and  reputation.  When  some 
leaders  of  organized  labor  sought  to  do  this,  in  an 
effort  to  defend  the  McNamaras,  they  were  joined 
by  this  group  and  all  sorts  of  libelous  and  malicious 
articles  were  written  in  various  publications  through- 
out the  country,  including  such  disreputable  sheets  as 
the  "Seattle  Times." 

Immediately  after  the  arrest  of  the  McNamaras, 
General  Otis  then  realized  that  all  of  the  calumnies 
uttered  against  me  were  baseless,  and  so  stated. 

From  a  long  experience  in  prosecuting  crime,  and 
especially  since  organizing  the  William  J.  Burns 
National  Detective  Agency,  I  have  been  cognizant 
of  the  outrageous  blackmailing  methods  pursued  by 
private  detectives,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I 
would  do  everything  possible  to  expose  this  class  of 
lawbreakers  and  parasites  on  society.  I  have  openly 
stated,  in  many  of  my  public  utterances  from  the 
platform,  that  private  detectives,  as  a  class,  are  the 
greatest  lot  of  crooks  that  ever  went  unpunished.  I 
have  always  insisted  that  the  man  who  wants  to  fol- 
low this  business  should  first  fortify  himself  with  a 
reputation  for  honesty  and  integrity,  and  then  he 
need  not  care  what  the  people  say  about  private 
detectives.  There  are  many  of  them  who  cloak 
themselves  with  this  calling  solely  for  the  purpose 
of  "blackmailing"  and  robbing  their  clients. 

The  honest  private  detectives  applaud  this  state- 
ment, and  are  with  me  in  my  effort  to  give  to  the 
business  an  air  of  respectability,  if  that  is  possible. 


CHAPTER    XLV 

WHAT   DARROW    HAD   TO   SAY 

The  last  and  completely  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
save  the  two  McNamaras  with  the  money  that  had 
been  raised  for  the  defense  was  made  when  Bert 
Franklin,  employed  in  the  capacity  of  investigator 
by  the  defense,  endeavored  to  "get  to"  the  jury. 

Bribery  had  been  attempted  almost  every  day 
with  witnesses,  but  we  had  amply  protected  our 
lines  from  such  encroachments.  Our  most  impor- 
tant witnesses  were  never  left  alone  and  in  the  case 
of  Frank  Eckhoff  we  saw  to  it  that  not  even  his  wife 
and  mother  could  reach  him.  Those  witnesses  who 
had  been  threatened  with  death  after  they  had  re- 
fused bribes  were  provided  with  guards. 

District  Attorney  Fredericks  and  his  force  kept 
their  eyes  keen  for  an  attempt  to  get  jurors  and 
when  George  N.  Lockwood,  a  talesman,  was  ap- 
proached by  Franklin  and  given  $500  in  advance 
with  a  guarantee  of  $3,500  after  the  trial,  the  plot 
to  fix  this  talesman  was  nipped  in  the  bud.  The 
second  attempt  was  made  with  Robert  Bain,  an 
actual  member  of  the  McNamara  jury.  Bain  swore 
that  Franklin  gave  him  $500  and  promised  $3,600 

320 


THE   MASKED   WAR  321 

after  the  trial  if  he  stood  out  for  not  guilty.  Frank- 
lin was  arrested  for  the  Bain  bribery  and  that  was 
the  final  blow.  The  McNamaras  would  have  to 
face  twelve  unbribed  men  for  trial  and  the  McNa- 
maras and  their  counsel  knew  what  witnesses  we 
had  and  had  a  good  idea  of  the  testimony  we  would 
present.  Both  men  would  be  found  guilty  of  mur- 
der in  the  first  degree  and  both  would  go  to  the 
gallows. 

Panic  hit  the  hearts  of  everyone  connected  with 
the  effort  to  save  these  two  murderers  and  the  mur- 
derers themselves  felt  the  rope  tightening  about 
their  necks.  Negotiations  to  save  them  from  death 
on  the  gallows  were  opened.  The  first  proposition 
made  to  Captain  Fredericks  was  that  J.  B.  McNa- 
mara  plead  guilty  to  murder  in  the  first  degree  and 
be  given  any  sentence  save  that  of  death  and  that 
J.  J.  McNamara  be  allowed  to  go  free. 

The  district  attorney  was  not  content  to  see  the 
weakling  tool  suffer  for  the  man  higher  up  and  he 
declined  the  offer.  Next  came  the  same  offer  in 
writing  only  with  the  words,  "save  the  sentence  of 
death"  scratched  out  with  a  pencil.  The  defense 
was  willing  to  swing  Jim  if  by  conceding  this  mis- 
erable life  to  the  law  J.  J.  might  be  saved.  The 
district  attorney  declined. 

Finally  the  defense  made  the  proposition  that 
J.  B.  would  plead  guilty  to  the  Los  Angeles  Times 
job  and  its  twenty-one  murders  and  J.  J.  would 
plead    guilty    to    the    Llewellyn    Iron    Works    job. 


322  THE    MASKED    WAR 

Judge  Boardwell  accepted  these  pleas  and  sentenced 
J.  B.  to  San  Quentin  for  life  and  J.  J.  for  fifteen 
years. 

Judge  Boardwell,  in  sentencing  the  two  men,  de- 
clared that  they  were  murderers  at  heart  and  de- 
served the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law.  To  J.  B. 
McNamara  the  judge  said: 

"There  is  very  little  or  no  ray  of  comfort  in  the 
assertion  that  you  did  not  intend  to  destroy  life. 
The  widows  and  orphans  and  the  bereaved  parents 
will  look  upon  that  statement  at  this  time  as  a  mock- 
ery. The  circumstances  are  against  you  in  making 
any  such  claim.  A  man  who  would  put  sixteen 
sticks  of  dynamite  in  a  building  full  of  combustible 
material,  and  I  have  in  mind  the  paper  which  you 
must  have  known  was  scattered  in  enormous  quan- 
tities throughout  the  building — I  say  that  a  man 
who  under  such  circumstances  could  place  a  dyna- 
mite charge  of  that  quantity  in  such  a  building,  in 
which  you  as  a  printer  knew  that  gas  was  burning 
in  many  places,  and  in  which  you  knew  there  were 
scores  of  human  beings  toiling,  must  have  had  no 
regard  whatever  for  the  loss  of  his  fellow  human 
beings.     He  must  have  been  a  murderer  at  heart." 

Now  what  did  Clarence  Darrow  have  to  say  in 
his  statement  to  the  public  after  the  sentencing  of 
his  two  clients,  the  two  men  who  were  held  up  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States  as  two  spotlessly 


,THE    MASKED    WAR  323 

innocent  men  who  were  being  sacrificed  by  Capital 
through  the  agency  of  William  J.  Burns? 

The  two  men  were  sentenced  on  December  5th, 
191 1.  On  that  day  Darrow  said  for  publication  in 
the  Los  Angeles  Times,  the  paper  which  had  risen 
from  the  wreck  into  which  it  had  been  cast  by  the 
dynamite  of  his  clients: 

"I  have  been  here  six  months  and  spent  many 
troubled  days  and  sleepless  nights  trying  to  run 
down  every  clue  and  make  every  possible  investiga- 
tion; trying  to  do  the  best  I  could  for  my  clients 
and  the  cause  that  I  served.  I  had  able  associates 
who  gave  me  their  best  effort  and  their  best  serv- 
ices through  it  all. 

"From  the  first  THERE  WAS  NEVER  THE 
SLIGHTEST  CHANCE  TO  WIN.  To  those 
who  say  it  would  have  been  better  to  have  gone  to 
trial  and  suffer  complete  defeat,  I  would  call  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  there  were  thirty  or  forty  hotel 
registers,  three  in  Los  Angeles,  many  in  San  Fran- 
cisco and  others  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 
There  were  scores  of  witnesses  to  identify  J.  B.  Mc- 
Namara  as  being  present  practically  on  the  very 
day,  and  one,  at  least,  in  the  building.  There  was 
overwhelming  evidence  of  all  kinds  which  no  one 
could  have  surmounted  if  they  would. 

"If  the  State  had  put  on  its  case  we  could  not 
even  put  the  defendant  on  the  stand  to  deny  the 
facts.    We  could  not  prove  an  alibi.    We  could  not 


324  THE   MASKED   WAR 

prove  he  was  not  here.  The  failure  to  do  so  would 
have  been  as  much  of  an  admission  as  it  was  to-day. 
We  were  confronted  with  the  situation  of  dragging 
our  case,  perhaps  for  years,  with  NOTHING  BUT 
THE  GALLOWS  AT  THE  END  and  no  chance 
to  raise  any  doubt  in  a  thinking  mind,  and  in  the 
meantime  collecting  money  from  thousands  of  peo- 
ple who  could  not  know  the  facts. 

"To  go  on  under  such  circumstances  would  have 
been  madness  and  only  postpone  an  evil  until  it 
would  have  been  a  still  greater  evil  and  the  conse- 
quences graver  than  they  are  now.  All  of  this  was 
thoroughly  understood  by  my  associates  and  no  one 
hesitated  about  accepting  it.  We  acted  as  we 
thought  right  and  best  and  will  take  the  conse- 
quences of  the  act." 

Near  $200,000  were  spent  for  the  lawyers  in 
Los  Angeles  to  find  out  that  "there  wasn't  a  chance 
from  the  first"  for  the  two  men  we  had  brought  to 
trial.  A  great  deal  more  money  was  collected,  the 
poor,  sweating,  gullible  workingman  and  working- 
woman  giving  up  with  each  call  from  their  false 
leaders  and  putting  their  money  in  his  hands  to  dis- 
pose of  for  them  in  the  belief  that  what  he  was  tell- 
ing them  was  true.  Even  Darrow  admitted  that  it 
was  not  right  to  keep  up  the  gouge. 


CHAPTER   XLVI 

THE    MYSTERY    OF   TWO    LOST   MEN 

With  the  McNamaras  disposed  of,  I  immedi- 
ately started  the  roundup  of  those  gentlemen  who 
had  gathered  with  J.  J.  McNamara  in  the  head- 
quarters of  the  union  in  Indianapolis  to  await  the 
reports  from  J.  B.  and  McManigal  as  they  made 
their  tour  with  dynamite — that  last  tour  when  they 
started  out  with  my  operatives  thick  as  bees  at  their 
heels. 

We  had  a  great  mass  of  evidence  to  show  that 
President  F.  M.  Ryan  and  the  rest  of  the  officers 
of  the  International  had  shared  in  the  masked  war. 
This  evidence  we  turned  over  to  United  States  Dis- 
trict Attorney  Miller  in  Indianapolis  and  we 
brought  along  McManigal  from  Los  Angeles  as  a 
witness  against  the  conspirators.  Nearly  the  entire 
executive  body  of  the  International  was  guilty  of 
participating  in  the  conspiracy  of  destruction  and 
when  we  made  the  roundup  the  net  brought  forty- 
five  ironworkers  to  the  bar  of  justice.  Thirty-eight 
were  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  the  Federal 
prison  for  terms  of  from  one  to  seven  years. 

Tveitmoe  and  Clancy  and  Jack  Munsey  and  the 

325 


326  THE   MASKED   WAR 

other  fattened  parasites  of  the  union  were  sent  to 
Leavenworth  prison  to  work  for  their  keep  behind 
bars.  They  no  longer  draw  fat  salaries  and  emer- 
gency sums  from  the  union's  deflated  treasury. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  year  19 13  we  left  the 
field  of  investigation  for  the  many  other  tasks  ahead 
of  us.  The  structural  ironworkers  were  rid  of  their 
grafters,  crooks  and  murderers.  They  had  a  new 
slate  before  them. 

In  all  this  record  which  I  have  put  down  for  the 
lasting  chronicle  of  a  serious  warfare  against  Soci- 
ety and  its  laws  there  stands  out  to  my  eyes  a  most 
gratifying  thing.  My  organization  worked  su- 
perbly and  although  private  detective  agencies  are 
too  frequently  used  for  harboring  crooks  and  pro- 
fessional blackmailers  my  men  worked  with  clean 
hands  as  well  as  remarkably  quick  wits.  Some  of 
them  sacrificed  all  of  the  comforts  of  life  at  times 
in  order  to  do  their  work  well,  none  of  them  suc- 
cumbed to  offers  of  big  bribes  and  it  is  with  genuine 
pride  that  I  say  that  without  their  efficient  aid  and 
their  fine  integrity  the  success  of  my  agency  would 
never  have  been  achieved. 

Of  the  two  Anarchists,  Schmidt  and  Caplan,  sup- 
plied to  help  J.  B.  McNamara  in  the  destruction  of 
the  Times  Building,  all  that  can  be  said  is  that  they 
are  yet  to  be  captured  and  to  be  made  to  answer  to 
the  charge  of  murder. 

Among  the  many  letters  received  by  me  to  the 
effect  that  I  would  pay  with  my  life  for  my  share 


THE    MASKED    WAR  327 

in  the  investigation  one  was  signed  by  a  man  who 
declared  himself  to  be  Schmidt.  He  promises  to 
come  back  to  this  country  after  his  period  of  hid- 
ing abroad.  He  declared  that  he  would  return  in 
order  to  murder  me.  If  he  is  really  living  he  may 
not  be  surprised  if  at  any  moment  a  hand  closes  on 
his  shoulder  and  he  finds  himself  a  prisoner. 

Caplan's  wife  was  smuggled  out  of  San  Francisco 
by  Tveitmoe  and  his  assistants.  But  we  had  no 
charge  against  her.  It  is  her  husband  who  may  yet 
look  up  at  the  gallows  tree.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  these  two  Anarchists  were  put  away  for  fear 
that  they  would  weaken  and  testify  against  the  real 
conspirators  in  order  to  save  their  lives.  We  know 
nothing  that  would  give  us  reason  to  believe  that 
such  a  double  murder  was  committed  but  in  closing 
I  shall  quote  from  a  letter  written  by  a  woman,  evi- 
dently an  Anarchist,  in  which  she  graphically  sug- 
gests this  solution  of  the  disappearance  of  the  two 
men. 

Here  it  is: 

"I  went  to  Carmel  Mission  and  a  fruit  ranch  near 
there  about  the  middle  of  October  after  the  dyna- 
miting of  the  Times  Building. 

"Followed  the  Carmel  River  up  in  the  Flats  and 
went  to  a  house  where  lived  a  woman  of  stout  build 
and  a  small-sized  man. 

"Was  sent  there  by  an  old  German  priest  of  Car- 
mel. 


328  THE    MASKED    WAR 

"Had  some  conversation  with  the  woman  and 
the  man  left. 

"Was  joined  afterward  by  Schmidt  and  the  boy 
of  the  Huber  family.  All  were  lodged  in  a  camp 
up  in  Carmel  mountain.  About  November  19th, 
there  was  war  in  the  camp — a  tragedy  had  taken 
place. 

"The  camp  had  been  dynamited,  how  or  by  whom 
I  do  not  know.  A  man  on  horseback  went  there 
hunting.  While  he  was  there,  it  is  my  belief,  two 
persons  were  dynamited,  their  bodies  rolled  in  tar- 
paulin with  stone  sinkers,  and  thrown  into  Carmel 
River  to  pass  along  the  coast  in  the  undertow  north 
above  Santa  Cruz. 

"On  the  eighth  of  February  I  had  a  very  strong 
feeling  that  these  bodies  in  tarpaulin  were  passing 
Point  of  Pines.  I  went  out  there  and  at  the  spot  in- 
dicated there  was  an  unusually  large  number  of  gulls 
incessantly  brooding  over  the  drift  and  they  did  not 
leave  until  the  tide  turned." 

Whether  that  was  the  last  of  Caplan  or  not  I  do 
not  know. 


FINIS 


THE  LIBRARY 
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